o? 


TOTEM 
LORE 


-OSJl 

1 


T 
O 


OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


THIRD  EDITION 


•43 


REV.     H.     P.     CORSER 

COPYRIGHTED      BYTHE      AUTHOR 
Published  by  the  Ryus  Drug  Co.,  Ketchikan,  Alaska 


INTRODUCTION 

TO  THE 
THIRD  EDITION 


The  earlier  editions  of  "Totem  Lore"  received  such  a 
sordial  welcome  from  tourists  and  others  interested  in  Indian 
life-  that  the  author  has  been  encouraged  to  publish  a  third 
edition. 

These  editions  have  been  entirely  rewritten  and  new 
chapters  have  been  added. 

The  material  in  the  Chilkat  Blanket  and  the  Thlinget 
Basket  has  been  drawn  by  permission  largely  from  the  two 
large  works  on  those  subjects  by  Lieutenant  Emmons  of  the 
United  States  Navy. 

The  frontispiece  is  from  a  painting  by  the  late  T.  J. 
Richardson,  the  great  Alaska  artist. 

Mr.  Wm.  Dickinson  gives  us  an  accurate  description  of 
the  so-called  Seattle  totem. 

Mr.  T.  J.  Fennel  has  transcribed  and  furnished  har 
monies  to  several  of  the  native  folk  songs. 

Miss  K.  Pritchette  has  furnished  two  illustrations  for  the 
Indian  myths,  and  several  more  illustrations  from  photo 
graphs  have  been  added. 

The  totem  features  may  be  gleaned  from  the  table  of 
contents. 


Table  of  Contents 

Page 

Appendix 1 

The  Story  of  the  Thlinget  Indians 6 

Totemism  11 

The  Legend  of  the  Raven  and  Raven  Totem 12 

The  Beaver  Legend  of  Kilisnu  and  Kicksetti 

Totem  14 

The  Kit  Legend  and  Totem 16 

The  Legend  of  the  Mosquito 17 

Intellectual  Life  of  the  Thlinget  Indians 19 

Legends  of  Chief  Shakes'  Totems 26 

The  Ko-na-ka-det 27 

Kadashan,  His  Totems  and  Legends  of  His 

Totems  29 

The  Thlinget  Hero,  Kayak... 29 

The  Eagle  Legend — Tsimpsian 33 

The  Legend  of  the  Crane 33 

The  Kadashan  Totems 35 

The  Legend  of  the  Koosh-ta-ka 35 

The  Chilkat  Blanket , 38 

The  Thlinget  Basket 41 

Ruins  of  Old  Indian  House  at  Wrangell 44 

The  Story  of  the  Kluc-nu-hu-di 44 

The  History  of  the  Totem  Pole 47 

Sitka  Totems 48 

The  Wolf 50 

The  Ketchikan  Totems 52 

Kasaan,  a,  Haida  Town 54 

The  Beaver  Totem 56 

The  Last  of  the  Fire  Builders 56 

The  Indian  Potlach  Dance 57 

Alaska  Indian  Songs 59-60 

Wrangell  Drug  Co 61 

F.  Matheson  Department  Store...... 62 

Alaska  Curio  Emporium 63 

Wrangell  Hotel '. 64 

Ketchikan's  Post  Card  Emporium 65 

E.  Valentine,  Jeweler 66 

Ryus  Drug  and  Jewelry  Co 66 

St.  John's  Mission  School 66 


From   a   Painting  by   T.  J.    Richardson. 

THE  LAST  OF  THE  FIRE  BUILDERS 
Those   ancient   days   were   great   old   days, 

When  haughty  chiefs  did  make 
Their  feasts  and  men  were  brave  enough 

To  die  for  honors  sake. 


—See  "The  Last  of  the  Fire  Builders,"  Page  5*. 


APPENDIX 

TOURIST  GUIDE  FOR  SOUTH  EASTERN  ALASKA 


Ketchikan — Population  about  2,000.  Schools — Public     school     with     six     teachers; 

Industries — Two   cold   storage   plants    for   fish,      Indian  school  connected  with  St.  John's  Episcopal 
two   large   canneries,   one   saw   mill,   one   herring       Church. 


KETCHIKAN    AND    TONGAS    NARROWS 

saltery,   saw   mill,   two  canneries.     A   center   for          Hospitals — The   Arthur    Yates    Memorial    con- 
shipping   fresh   fish,   repair  shops,   etc.  nected  with  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church. 


PALLS  IN  KET  CHIKAN  GLEN 


Churches— Episcopal,     Methodist    and     Roman     Mining — Numerous  mines  of  gold  and  copper 
Catholic.  in  vicinity,  and  also  a  100-acre  tract  of  pure  white 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  L\D1AXS 


marble  awaiting  development.  Their  baskets  are  both  of  the  straight  and  twist- 

Interesting  to  Tourists — Mineral  cabinet  across      ed  weave,  and  sell  at  prices  from  one-quarter  to 
the  street  from  the  postoffice,  Kians  and  Johnson       one-half  of  the  price  of  spruce  root  baskets,  and 


WRANGELL  WITH  THE  TI-HI-TAN  TOTEM 

This  totem  is  the  totem  of  the  bark  house  people,  a  branch  of  the  Kickuttis. 

There  was  a  fair.ily  row,  part  moved  out  and  lived  in  bark 

houses.    Hence  the  name  Tihitan  or  bark  house  people. 

Observe  the  place  for  the  bones  of  the 

cremated  near  the  top  of  the  pole. 


totems,  Ketchikan  Glen  and  Salmon  stream.  The 
Curio  stores,  where  valuable  specimens  of  Indian 
work  may  be  seen,  and  tourists  are  always  cor- 


are  very  practical  and  durable.  There  baskets 
are  useful  for  ladies  work  baskets,  jardinieres, 
market  baskets,  and  catch  all  baskets.  It  mav  be 


KNYG  BAY  AND  GLACIER  IN  STICKINE  RIVER  NEAR  WRANGELL 
I"  tlu-m  whether  they  expec 


dially  invited  to  am 
to  buy  or  not. 

Cedar  Bark  Indian  Baskets — Ketchikan   Indian 
school  sends  out  large  numbers  of  these  baskets. 


said  here  tluit  baskets  are  sold  at  the  stores  at 
about  the  same  prices  that  they  may  be  secured 
from  the  natives.  The  stores  make  their  profit 
by  paying  for  them  in  trade. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


Between  Ketchikan  and  Wrangell — Guard  Is 
land  Light  House,  Hadly,  a  mining  and  saw  mill 
town,  and  Lincoln  Rock  Sight  House. 

Wrangell— Population  of  1,000. 

Industries — Cold   storage  plant  for  fish,  a  co- 


Catholic,  and   Salvation  Army.     Connected  with 
the  Episcopal  church,  there  is  a  gymnasium. 

Interesting  to  Tourists — Eleven  standing  totem 
poles  nearly  all  described  in  this  book.  Chief 
Shakes  house  and  Curios  which  is  much  like  a 


JUNEAN— THE   CAPITOL 


operative  "mild  cure"  establishment  for  salmon, 
saw  mill  and  box  factory,  shingle  mill,  shipping 
point  for  the  Stickin  river,  and  the  West  Coast 
of  Prince  of  Wales  Island. 


museum.  The  marble  altar  from  Alaska  marble 
in  St.  Philip's  Episcopal  church  (reached  by 
small  boats)  La  Conte  glacier,  Stickin  river 
scenery,  "Chu-gu-ran"  (mill  creek  falls,  etc.) 


TREADWELL  MINE  "GLORY  HOLE"  LOOKING  EAST 


Schools — Public   school   with   four   teachers,   a 
Government  Indian  School. 
Hospitals — One  private. 
Churches — Presbyterian,       Episcopal,       Roman 


In  the  stores,  valuable  totem  poles,  Chilkat 
blankets,  moccasins,  and  Indian  baskets  may  be 
secured. 

Between  Wrangell  and  Junean,  Wrangell  nar- 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


rows,  20  miles  long,  Petersburg  with  cannery  and          Douglass    and    Junean — Combined    population 

saw    mill,    and    with    population    about    500.     On      estimated  10,000.    Junean  is  the  capital. 

the  main  land  near  the  north  end  of  the  narrows          Industries — Principally    mining.     Some    of    the 


SKAGUAY,  ALASKA 

is     Patterson     glacier.     Near     Junean     is     Taku       largest  stamp  mills  in  the   world  found  here, 
glacier.     Here   is   where  the  old   Wolf  Thlingets  Churches — Hpiscopal.    Methodist.    Presbyterian, 


GREEK  CHURCH  AT  SITKA 


first  lived.     Windom  glacier  is  at  the  left  on  an       Lutheran,    Greek   Catholic,    Roman   Catholic   and 

Salvation   Army, 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


Schools — Public  schools  and  government  In 
dian  schools.  Well  equipped  high  schools  are 
found  on  both  sides  of  the  channel. 

Hospital — One  St.  Mary  the  Virgin,  Roman 
Catholic. 

Interesting  to  Tourists — The  mines,  and  stamp 
mills,  and  also  art  and  curio  stores. 

Between  Junean  and  Skaguay — Lynn  Canal, 
beautiful  scenery,  Davidson  glacier  near  Skag 
uay. 

Skaguay — Population  about  1,000. 

Industries — Terminal  of  the  White  pass  rail 
road. 

Schools -Public  schools,  well  equipped. 

Churches — The  Methodist,  Episcopal  and 
Roman  Catholic. 

Interesting  to  Tourists — The  cemetery  where 
Frank  Reid,  who  was  killed  by  "Soapy  Smith," 


is  buried.  Taking  the  trail  up  the  mountain  to 
the  right  as  you  enter  the  town,  a  trip  over  the 
White  Pass  and  Yukon.  The  Curio  stores. 

Sitka— The  Old  Capitol.  Population  about  1,000. 

Industries — Saw  mill  and  fishing. 

Schools — Public  school.  The  government  In 
dian  school,  and  the  Industrial  Indian  Training 
School,  maintained  by  the  Presbyterian  church. 

Churches — The  Episcopal  cathedral.  The 
Greek  Catholic  Cathedral  with  its  beautiful  pic 
tures,  and  the  Presbyterian  church. 

Interesting  to  Tourists — The  Old  Russian 
block  house,  the  view  from  the  old  cemetery, 
Mount  Edgcomb  in  the  distance,  the  Indian  mer 
chants,  Lovers  Lane  with  its  totems,  the  Shel 
don  Jackson  Museum,  the  "Blarney  stone"  at  the 
entrance  of  the  mission  grounds  and  the  Curio 
and  Art  stores. 


The  Story  of  the  Thlinget  Indians 


HO  are  the  Indians  that  the  tourists 
sees  in  his  visit  to  Southeastern 
Alaska?  The  most  casual  observer 
notices  that  they  are  different  from 
the  Indians  of  the  plains.  Their 
stature,  their  eyes,  their  handiwork,  their  car 
riage,  all  indicate  that  they  are  more  Asiatic  than 
Indian.  Their  language,  students  tell  us,  belongs 
to  a  family  entirely  different  from  that  of  the 
interior  Indians.  In  fact,  their  language  shows 
no  family  connection  with  any  other  race  or  tribe. 
To  write  their  language  requires  the  inven 
tion  of  a  new  alphabet.  Apparently  a  third  of 
their  consonant  sounds  are  not  found  in  any 
other  language.  The  speaking  is  done  with  the 
throat.  Very  little  is  accomplished  by  the  lips 
and  teeth.  A  good  student  of  the  Thlinget  must 
learn  to  talk  with  his  mouth  as  nearly  closed  as 
possible. 

The  three  tribes  one  meets  in  Southeastern 
Alaska  are  the  Tsimpsians,  the  Haidas,  and  the 
Thlingets. 

The  Tsimpsians  were  brought  into  Alaska  by 
Father  Duncan,  of  Metlakatla.  In  stature  they 
are  shorter  and  thicker  set  than  the  Indians 
to  the  north.  When  Father  Duncan  first  met 
them  they  were  the  wildest  of  the  wild.  Today 
they  are  well  advanced  in  civilization.  In  music 
they  are  wonderfully  successful.  Their  labor  is 
sought  for  in  canneries  and  sawmills  by  those 
who  are  looking  for  reliable  men.  Their  legends 
are  similar  to  those  of  the  Indians  to  the  north, 
but  their  language  is  entirely  different. 

The  Haida  Indians  are  found  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island.  They  are 
emigrants  from  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  to 
the  south.  The  tourists  finds  their  work  at  old 
Kasaan.  Their  totem  poles  arc  richer  in  figures, 
but  the  carving  is  not  so  deep  as  among  the 
Thlingets.  One  or  two  of  the  Thlinget  clans 
have  their  sacred  songs  in  the  Haida  language, 
showing  that  either  these  clans  came  from  the 
Haida,  or  else  that  Haida  wives  have  brought 
to  these  clans  their  religious  rites. 

The  tribe,  however,  that  must  interest  the 
tourists  the  most  is  the  Thlinget.  These  he 
sees  at  Ketchikan  (Tongas  people),  Wrangell, 
Petersburg,  Juneau,  Haines,  Killisnoo  and  Sitka, 
and  more  or  less  at  all  the  cannaries  where  their 
ship  happens  to  call.  Off  of  the  regular  tourist 
route  their  are  Thlingets  at  Klawock,  Kake, 


Hoonah,    and    as    far    north    as    Yackatat,    and 
Copper  river. 

The  history  of  these  Thlingets  is  an  inter 
esting  problem  in  sociology.  There  is  a  simi 
larity  in  legends,  language  and  customs  run 
ning  through  all  these  villages,  but  on  the  other 
hand  there  are  differences  which  cannot  be  ex 
plained  on  the  theory  of  any  common  origin. 

A  Thlinget,  by  listening  to  the  speech  of  a 
stranger,  can  tell  from  what  village  he  came. 
In  an  effort  to  learn  the  language,  a  white  man 
who  has  learned  the  pronunciation  in  one  village 
finds  that  when  he  moves  to  another  his  pronun 
ciation  has  to  be  corrected.  This  explains  the 
variations  in  orthography  that  exist  when  differ 
ent  persons  have  attempted  to  put  into  print  the 
spelling  of  Thlinget  names. 

Their  principal  legend,  that  of  the  Raven, 
centers  at  the  Nass  River,  and  their  tradition 
tells  us  that  a  large  mass  of  the  Thlingets  came 
from  Dall  Islands  which  is  a  small  island  South 
west  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  and  others 
came  from  the  Nass  River.  Those  who  came 
from  Dall  Island  settled  on  "Cot"  Island  near 
Ketchikan,  and  after  some  migrations  came  to 
old  Port  Tongas.  Some  suggest  that  they  were 
gradually  driven  north  by  the  Tsimpsians.  Back 
of  the  days  in  which  these  migrations  took  place 
their  traditions  are  silent. 

When  this  emigration  took  place  is  a  matter 
for  the  wildest  conjecture.  The  Indians  will  tell 
you  that  it  all  happened  before  the  flood.  To 
make  an  estimate  when  this  happened,  time  must 
be  allowed  for  the  Kicksettis  to  have  left  their 
ancestral  seats,  to  have  moved  northward  to 
"Kicks"  Bay  (near  Loring),  where  they  appear 
to  have  built  a  village,  to  have  become  tired  of 
that  village,  to  have  moved  northward  to  the 
Stikine  River,  to  have  lived  long  enough  near  the 
head  of  navigation  of  the  Stikine  River  to  have 
there  developed  additional  mythology  in  connec 
tion  with  their  family,  to  have  come  back  from 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  to  have  lived  at  least 
for  twelve  generations,  before  the  present  time 
is  reached.  Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  a  thou 
sand  years  have  elapsed  since  the  migrations 
first  began? 

Those  who  left  first  had  the  raven  as  the 
emblem  of  their  phratry.  When  they  came  north 
it  is  evident  that  the  country  was  not  unin 
habited.  There  is  the  tradition  of  a  village  north 
of  the  Stikine  River  that  was  blotted  out  by  a 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIAXS 


great  landslide,  only  a  few  surviving.  Those 
principally  went  to  Sitka. 

There  is  a  tradition  of  a  time  in  which  the 
great  glacier  extended  across  the  Stikine  River, 
that  the  river  ran  under  the  glacier  and  that 
sorr.e  venturesome  old  men  went  under  the 
glacier  and  came  back  and  reported  a  good 
country  beyond.  A  portion  of  these  people  went 
under  the  glacier  and  settled  at  Kake. 

The  story  is  told  that  fourteen  generations  ago 
a  branch  of  the  Tongas  people  migrated  to  the 
west  coast  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island  and 


It  will  be  noticed  further  that  the  wolf  legend 
dates  back  to  a  very  primitive  condition  of  so 
ciety,  where  the  man  leaves  his  own  home  and 
goes  to  dwell  in  the  home  of  his  wife.  It  is 
sometimes  charged  that  the  old-time  modern  In 
dian  buys  his  wife.  The  gifts  given  toj  the  father 
were  only  in  lieu  of  not  being  compelled  to  go  to 
the  home  of  his  wife  and  to  there  serve  for  her. 

All  that  has  been  given  thus  far  dates  back 
to  conditions  as  they  were  in  the  first  twilight 
of  Thlinget  history.  What  were  some  of  the 
later  migrations? 


BIG  GLACIER  STIKINE 


Opposite  this  glacier  is  a  hot  spring.  The  Kit  and  the  Raven  had  a  contest  to  see  who 
could  stay  in  the  longer.  The  Raven  flew  over  to  this  glacier  and  took  a  chunk  of  ice  in 
its  mouth,  and  that  enabled  it  to  stay  in  the  longer.  This  glacier  has  receded  a  mile  in  the 
last  thirty  years. 


found  there  the  Tucina,  or  coast  people,  dwelling 
in  inverted  V-shaped  houses. 

The  largest  stock  of  the  primitive  people  ap 
pear  to  have  centered  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Taku  River.  The  best  authorities,  like  Lieuten 
ant  Emmons,  claim  that  they  came  from  the  in 
terior  down  the  Taku  River.  There  are  tradi 
tions  which  say  that  they  came  originally  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Nass  River;  but  these  tradi 
tions  are  not  so  well  supported  as  the  former. 
The  legends  of  the  Tanu  people  are  like  those 
of  the  wolf — are  of  a  wilder,  fiercer  nature  than 
those  of  the  southern  Indians — and  they  must 
have  been  born  in  a  different  intellectual  atmos 
phere. 


A  girl  belonging  to  a  noted  family  of  the 
Klawock  people  became  so  insane  that  she  made 
a  pet  of  an  earthworm.  To  cover  their  shame, 
the  whole  family  moved  away  and  settled  at 
Chilkat.  They  were  the  first  to  keep  their  fish 
in  an  ice-house,  and  from  that  they  took  their 
name,  "Chilkat." 

The  family  names  in  Yackatat  indicate  that 
the  people  were  emigrants  from  old  Tongas. 

After  the  Kicksetti  people  had  gone  up  the  Sti 
kine  River,  two  families  migrated  southward  from 
the  Taku  people.  One  family  was  asked  where 
they  camped,  and  they  replied  "At  the  Signa" 
(meaning  grind-stone  rock),  and  the  others  re 
plied  "Nan-yan-yi"  (meaning  beyond).  So  the 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


first  family  were  called  the  Signahudi  and  the 
latter  Nan-yan-yi.  The  Nan-yan-yi  soon  became 
the  leading  family  among  the  Stikine  people. 

After  the  Nan-yan-yi  had  located  themselves 
on  the  stikine  River,  numerous  other  clans  joined 
themselves  to  those  already  there,  until  every 


The  Stikine  people  finally  moved  back  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Stikine  River,  and  built  their  first 
resting  place  on  Brush  Island.  They  evidently 
did  not  stay  there  long.  Brush  Island  is  swept 
by  heavy  winds  from  the  interior  as  they  violent 
ly  rush  down  through  the  Stikine  gorge.  They 


Published   by   permission   of  J.    E.   Worden. 

TOTEMS    STANDING    IN    FRONT    OF    THE    PLACE    WHERE    THE 
FIRST   HOUSE   IN   OLD   WRANGELL   STOOD 


large  tributary  was  claimed  by  some  clan.  On 
one  or  two  of  the  mountains  old,  cairns  are  found 
whose  existence  was  unknown  to  the  oldest 
Indians.  There  is  one  on  Cone  Mountain,  about 
sixty  miles  up  the  river,  which  the  legend  says 
was  put  up  at  the  time  of  the  flood  when  the 
grizzly  bear  led  them  up  to  the  summit  for  safety. 


moved  from  there  to  the  mainland  and  had  their 
homes  scattered  along  from  what  is  now  known 
as  Girard  Point  to  Mill  Creek.  Mill  Creek  was 
the  principal  town  seat.  It  was  called  Chu-gas- 
-an,  or  waterfall  town. 

The  writer  will  here  go  into  a  more  complete 
history  of  the  Wrangell,  or  Stikine,  Indians,  not 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


because  these  Indians  were  more  important  than 
the  others,  but  because  the  history  of  their  vil 
lage  is  typical  of  all  the  different  primitive  vil 
lages.  It  will  give  the  reader  a  glance  at  the 
social  life  of  those  early  days. 

At  Che-gas-an  two  chiefs  succeeded  each  other. 
Two  brothers,  Ko-shu  and  Shaddesty,  were  lead 
ers  of  the  Nan-yan-yi.  The  eldest,  Ko-shu  was 
married  to  a  Haida  woman.  He  had  a  son  who 
quarreled  with  his  young  uncle,  Shaddesty,  and 
cut  his  face.  Ko-shu  offered  to  settle  for  his 
son's  misdemeanor  by  paying  twenty  slaves. 
The  Wrangell  people  were  very  rich.  Their 
hunting  ground  was  rich  in  game,  and  tribes  like 
the  Haida  would  war  with  the  southern  tribes, 
capture  slaves,  bring  them  north  and  trade  with 
the  Wrangell  people  for  furs. 

Shaddesty  refused  the  twenty  slaves  and  de 
manded  his  uncle's  grizzly  bear  dancing  hat. 
This  Ko-shu  refused,  and,  to  keep  peace,  moved 
out,  took  his  family,  slaves  and  all  his  belong 
ings,  and  sought  a  location  for  a  new  town. 

He  traveled  around  Wrangell  Island  until  he 
came  to  a  place  about  twenty  miles  below  the 
present  site  of  Wrangell,  and  there  found  a 
cluster  of  trees  similar  to  those  along  the  Stikine 
River.  This  was  considered  a  good  omen.  He 
decided  to  stop  there  and  build,  and  so,  seven 
generations  ago,  the  first  house  in  Kots- 
lit-an,  now  known  as  old  Wrangell,  was  built. 

A  noted  carver  belonging  to  the  Eagle  clan 
of  Chilkat  was  hired  to  furnish  the  decorative 
work.  When  everything  was  ready  a  great  feast 
was  held,  and  twenty  slaves  were  sacrificed  to 
do  what  was  known  as  clearing  the  place.  Soon 
after,  all  the  Stikine  people  followed.  More 
popular  trees  were  cut  down  and  other  large 
communal  houses  were  erected,  and  another  great 
feast  was  held,  in  which  two  hundred  slaves  were 
sacrificed  to  clear  the  place.  It  was  the  popular 
trees  that  gave  the  town  its  name.  The  word 
Kots-lit  means  popular  tree  town. 

Soon  after  Ko-shu  died,  a  great  feast  was 
given  to  provide  for  him  royal  attendance  in 
the  next  world.  His  head  was  preserved  in  a 
beautifully  carved  box  and  his  body  was  cre 
mated.  The  theory  of  cremation  was  that  the 
man  who  was  cremated  passed  his  eternity  near 
a  warm  fire,  while  the  person  who  was  not  was 
continually,  through  eternity,  anxious  to  get  near 
fire,  but  unable. 

The  tribe  was  matronymic.  Ko-shu's  sister's 
son  inherited  his  uncle's  place.  The  town  pros 
pered.  The  people  grew  rich.  Slaves  beca  e 
as  numerous  as  in  the  days  of  old  Rome,  when 
they  were  sold  at  a  dollar  each.  The  town  grew 


until  upwards  of  a  hundred  communal  houses 
were  built.  In  an  evil  day  some  Tsimpsians 
came  up  to  trade.  The  box  that  contained  the 
head  of  Ko-shu  disappeared,  and  it  was  charged 
that  the  Tsimpsians  had  stolen  it.  The  next 
year,  when  the  Tsimpsians  came  up  to  trade, 
some  were  captured  and  made  slaves.  Of  course, 
this  meant  war.  The  Nan-yan-yi  had  a  great 
Indian  doctor  who  possessed  the  spirit  of  the 
grindstone,  who  told  them  to  prepare  for  a  great 
war.  The  next  spring  the  people  of  the  village, 
instead  of  separating,  kept  together.  They  were 
all  at  the  mouth  of  the  Stikine  when  the  Tsimp- 
sian  hosts  came  to  meet  them. 

Their  canoes  advanced  side  by  side  and  seemed 
to  the  Wrangell  people  to  stretch  out  for  miles. 
The  conflict  was  short  and  decisive.  The 
Tsimpsians  were  completely  defeated.  Large 
numbers  of  their  canoes  were  broken  up  and  all 
were  captured  and  some  of  the  chief  men  were 
made  slaves,  and  the  rest  returned  home. 
Among  the  canoes  captured  was  the  "Kit."  Up 
to  this  time  the  tribe  had  not  yet  the  right  to 
have  the  "Kit"  or  whale-killer  painted  upon  their 
canoe.  The  right  to  use  certain  symbols  was 
looked  upon  as  among  the  most  valuable  posses 
sions.  It  not  only  gave  dignity  and  honor,  but 
it  also  pleased  the  spirits  to  see  these  symbols, 
and  it  brought  good  luck  to  those  who  had  the 
right  to  use  them. 

The  next  year  peace  was  made,  and  in  the 
treaty  the  chief  obtained  the  right  to  use  the 
"Kit"  and  also  the  right  to  assume  the  name  of 
Shakes.  Shakes  is  a  Tsimpsian  word  and  means 
the  splasher  of  the  whale.  This  Shakes  had  a 
nephew,  Koshu,  who  succeeded  him.  Koshu's 
reign  was  short.  He  died  of  smallpox  and  Ka- 
Shishk,  his  brother,  reigned  in  his  stead.  This 
Shakes  tried  to  be  a  true  father  to  his  people. 
One  night  he  disguised  himself  as  kings  are  wont 
to  do  and  went  around  to  hear  what  the  people 
had  to  say.  He  heard  them  complain  about  the 
hard  times  that  had  come  through  the  wars  of 
their  chief.  No  one  dared  to  be  alone.  Enemies 
were  continually  skulking  about,  seeking  revenge. 

The  chief  took  pity  on  his  people  and  gave 
them  a  party  and  took  them  up  the  Stikine  River. 
On  his  return  a  tree  fell  on  him  and  killed  him. 
A  great  feast  was  given  for  him  and  many  slaves 
were  sacrificed.  His  nephew  rigned  in  his  stead. 

This  Shakes  was  the  first  Wrangell  Indian  to 
see  a  whiteman.  Captain  Haines  was  the  first 
to  call.  His  account  of  the  visit  to  Wrangell 
would  indicate  that  in  those  days  .there  were 
seven  or  eight  times  as  rrany  people  in  old 
Wrangell  as  in  modern  Wrangell. 


10 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


Soon  after,  Baron  Wrangell  established  a  fort 
on  the  present  site  of  Wrangell.  Nothing  is  left 
of  it  today  but  some  stumps  a  few  inches  high  of 
the  old  stockade.  The  Shakes'  people  were  anx 
ious  to  make  friends  with  and  be  under  the  pro 
tection  of  this  new  power.  So  they  moved  up 
and  built  their  homes  on  an  island  (at  high  tide) 
near  to  the  old  Russian  fort. 

The  history  of  the  Indians  since  the  days  of 
the  Russian  occupation  is  so  interwoven  with 
that  of  the  white  people,  that  it  is  practically  a 
part  of  it.  The  old  petty  wars  have  gradually 
fallen  into  desuetude.  One,  however,  happened 
soon  after  the  white  man  came.  It  was  between 
the  Sitka  and  the  Wrangell  people.  There  was 


While  the  Wrangell  people  were  there  in  one 
house,  the  Sitkas  fell  on  them  and  slaughtered 
them.  The  Wrangell  people  vowed  vengeance. 
All  the  leading  men  set  out  for  Victoria  to  secure 
firearms.  On  their  way  they  were  overtaken  by 
small-pox  and  many  of  them  died.  This  was 
looked  upon  as  a  judgment  of  God,  bidding  them 
to  stop  their  quarrel.  But  even  to  this  day, 
though  these  events  happened  three  or  four  gen 
erations  ago,  there  is  a  strong  aversion  existing 
between  the  people  of  the  two  villages. 

The  early  legends  tell  of  a  time  when  a  man 
went  to  live  in  the  home  of  his  wife.  This  cus 
tom  was  replaced  by  the  man  praying  the  father 
for  the  privilege  of  bringing  his  wife  to  his  own 


Permission   of  T.    E.   \Yorden. 


THE    KIT    CANOE 


This  canoe  is  the  war  canoe  of  the  Shakes  family.     The  right  to  use  the  symbol  of  the 
Kit  was  secured  over  a  hundred  years  ago  in  a  war  with  the  Tsimpsians. 


a  Helen  at  the  beginning  of  the  trouble.  A  Sitka 
Indian  was  married  to  a  Wrangell  woman.  A 
Wrangell  Indian  stole  her  away.  The  Sitka 
Indian  killed  him.  The  clansmen  of  the 
Wrangell  Indian  organized  for  vengeance  and 
killed  the  clansmen  of  the  Sitka  Indian.  The 
clansmen  of  the  Wrangell  Indian,  through  the 
assistance  of  the  Shakes'  people,  procured  fire 
arms  and  fortified  the  r  selves  on  a  small  island 
near  Wrangell,  and  succeeded  in  repelling  the 
attack  of  the  Sitka  people. 

Next,  all  the  Sitka  came  down  to  attack  tlie 
Wrangell  people  and  were  defeated.  A  peace 
was  declared,  but  the  Sitka  were  not  satisfied 
with  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  They  held  a  big 
potlatch  and  invited  some  Wrangell  people. 


home.  Today,  among  the  Indians  in  most  every 
instance,  it  is  a  Christian  marriage. 

The  laws  of  inheritance  kept  property  within 
the  clan.  It  went  to  the  sister's  son.  A  man's 
children  were  no  relation  to  him.  They  be 
longed  to  his  wife's  clan.  There  is  today  a  con 
flict  between  the  Indians'  and  the  white  man's 
law  of  inheritance.  Much  trouble  has  been 
caused  on  account  of  the  uncertainty.  The 
courts,  of  course,  insist  on  the  white  man's  laws, 
and  the  old  Indians  oppose  them.  There  should 
be  legislation  which  would  define  the  legal  status 
of  the  Indian.  Today,  under  the  law,  they  are 
neither  white  nor  Indian.  They  are  literally  men 
without  a  country. 

In  spite,  however,  of  all  difficulties,  the  Indians 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


11 


are  advancing.  The  oldest  Indians  have  literal 
ly  come  up  from  the  stone  age,  and  when  one 
considers  this  is  it  surprising  that  many  have 


failed  to  learn  the  whole  lesson  of  civilization. 
What  many  have  learned,  however,  is  a  miracle 
of  modern  missions. 


Totemism 


HE  word  "Totem"  is  derived  from 
the  Chippewa  "Oboteman."  Among 
primitive  people,  everywhere  each 
family  had,  as  it  supposed,  its 
primitive  guardian  spirit. 

This  spirit  was  only  concerned  with  the  blood 
relations  of  the  family  on  its  mothers  side. 

This  idea  was  common  among  nearly  all  the 
American  Indians.  It  was  strange  to  say  also 
found  among  the  Egyptians.  Each  Egyptian 
canton  had  its  totem. 

Among  the  Alaska  Indians,  the  spirit  was 
usually  the  spirit  of  some  bird,  beast  or  even  of 
an  inanimate  object  like  a  grind  stone  rock,  or 
mountain.  Yet  it  was  not  the  spirit  of  some 
thing  that  we  see  today,  but  it  was  the  spirit  of 
some  anti-diluvian  animal  which  was  different 
from  the  animals  of  the  present  day,  or  of  some 
object  that  existed  in  the  pre-historic  ages. 

The  family  which  had  a  member  that  in  some 
way  got  in  touch  with  one  of  these  spirits  was 
considered  fortunate  even  though  the  incident 
itself  was  more  or  less  discreditable. 

When  a  man  who  had  had  the  help  of  one  of 
the  spirits  died,  the  members  of  the  same  clan 
would  begin  to  fast,  and  it  was  expected  that 
the  one  who  fasted  the  most  conscientiously 
would  get  the  help  of  the  Totem  spirit  and  would 
be  the  next  Indian  doctor  for  that  family  or 
clan. 

The  Totem  pole  often  contains  a  picture  of 
some  incident  of  the  story  which  grew  up  to  ex 
plain  how  the  first  Indian  doctor  obtained  the 


help  of  the  spirit  power.  The  pole  stands  as  a 
coat  of  arms  of  the  family. 

It  may  be  placed  before  a  house  to  show  who 
lived  in  the  house,  or  it  might  contain  the  bones 
of  the  departed.  And  thus  show,  whose  bones 
were  there  preserved. 

It  also  is  sometimes  erected  as  a  memorial  of 
some  great  potlatch  feast  given  by  the  family  that 
erected  the  pole. 

It  would  take  from  one  to  three  years  to  carve 
a  pole.  One  man  would  work  with  two  or  three 
helpers.  An  ordinary  pole  would  cost  from  four 
hundred  to  twelve  hundred  dollars.  The  more 
it  cost  the  morebeautiful  it  was  supposed  to  be. 
Totem  poles  were  usually  carved  from  yellow 
cedar. 

The  origin  of  the  Totem  pole  idea  is  lost  in  the 
mythical  past.  Some  have  taken  it  as  an  evi 
dence  that  the  coast  tribes  are  Asiatic  in  origin. 
Some  of  the  Asiatic  Islands  have  Totems  very 
similar.  This  thing  however  is  contradicted  by 
a  legend  that  the  first  Totem  pole  floated  ashore, 
and  that  the  native  copied  that,  and  then 
elaborated  the  idea. 

Totem  poles  were  always  first  painted.  Where 
there  is  no  paint,  that  is  an  evidence  of  age. 

In  reading  poles  always  begin  at  the  top  and 
read  downward.  Usually  it  is  the  crest  of  the 
family  that  is  at  the  top,  but  not  always.  At  the 
erection  of  a  pole,  a  feast  was  given,  and  there 
the  workers  were  paid.  Ropes  made  from  the 
bark  of  the  red  cedar,  were  used  in  the  erection 
of  the  pole.  Further  facts  about  the  poles  will 
be  gleaned  as  one  pole  after  another  is  studied. 


12 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  1\D1A.\S 


The  Legend  of  the  Raven  and 
Raven  Totem 


was    a    time    in    which    the 
was      peopled      by      beings 


HERE 
world 

similar  to  those  which  inhabited  the 
ancient     Babylonian     chaos.     These 
beings    wore    not    men.    and    neither 
were  they  animals. 

There  was  darkness  then  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth.  The  Creator,  the  Great  Raven,  lived  at 
the  head  of  the  Nass  River  and  selfishly  kept  the 
sun  and  moon  hidden  from  mortals.  The  modern 
legends  say  that  they  were  concealed  in  boxes. 
The  older  legends  speak  of  three  bags,  one  con 
taining  the  stars,  one  the  moon  and  the  third  the 
sun. 

One  of  the  mortals  determined  to  get  this 
light  for  men.  So  he  became  a  needle  of  the 
hemlock  tree  growing  over  a  pool  of  water  where 
the  daughter  of  the  Creator  was  accustomed  to 
dring.  She  drinks  the  needle  with  the  water, 
and  so  the  young  fellow  is  born  again.  As  a 
cunning  child,  he  pleases  the  Creator.  He  man 
ages  to  get  the  bag  of  stars  to  play  with.  He 
throws  them  into  the  sky  and  they  remain  there. 
But  this  did  not  give  the  light  that  he  wanted. 
Next  he  throws  the  moon,  and  he  is  still  dissatis 
fied.  Next  he  cries  for  the  sun.  The  grand 
father  reluctantly  gives  him  that  to  play  with. 
He  rolls  it  along  the  floor  and  then  throws  is  up 
into  the  sky. 

When  he  realizes  what  he  has  done,  he  is 
afraid  and  leaves  his  ancestral  home.  The  mor 
tals  also  are  frightened  by  the  light.  Some  jump 
into  the  sea  and  become  the  fishes.  Others  take 
to  the  mountains  and  become  the  wild  animals. 


The  Raven  then  hears  of  a  spring  of  fresh 
water  on  Dall  Island,  an  island  west  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  out  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Up 
to  this  time  there  had  been  no  fresh  water,  aside 
from  what  was  on  Dall  Island.  This  spring  was 
presided  over  by  an  old  man,  Ganook,  who  would 
not  allow  even  the  Raven  to  have  any  of  it. 
Ganook  is  usually  represented  on  totems  as  a 
head  of  what  might  be  a  cross  between  a  raven 
and  a  goat. 

While  Ganook  was  sleeping  the  Raven  played 
a  trick  on  him,  so  that  he  had  to  go  down  to 
salt  water  for  a  plunge.  While  Ganook  was 
away  the  Raven  rushed  to  the  spring  and  drank 
all  the  fresh  water  that  he  could  and  returned 


to  the  house.  Just  then  Ganook  appeared  at  th/ 
door.  The  Raven  took  fright  and  flew  up 
through  the  opening  in  the  middle  of  the  room 
over  the  fire.  Ganook,  through  the  help  of  the 
spirits  of  such  openings,  held  him  there  in  the 
smoke  until  he  was  covered  with  soot.  After 
the  Raven  escaped  he  tried  to  wipe  off  the  soot, 
but  was  unable  so  to  do.  and  so  ever  afterward 
he  was  black. 

The  Raven  then  began  to  fly  over  the  land. 
Wherever  he  dropped  plenty  of  water  that  be 
came  a  river,  and  when  he  dropped  a  little  each 
drop  became  a  salmon  creek. 

The  Raven  began  to  try  to  make  man.  He 
tried  the  stones.  These  made  men  that  were 
slow.  He  threw  them  down  in  great  disgust. 
Then  he  tried  making  men  out  of  the  leaves  of 
the  trees.  These  men  suited  him  and  he  let  them 
live.  The  Haida  legend  differs  from  the  Thlinget 
in  that  the  Raven  found  man  in  a  clam  shell. 
The  Thlinget  legend  has  a  similarity  to  the 
legends  of  the  interior  Indians.  It  has  been 
stated  on  good  authority  that  the  legend  of  the 
leaves  of  the  trees  extends  as  far  east  as  among 
the  Indians  of  the  New  England  states.  The 
Athabascan  Indians,  however,  make  the  jaybird 
the  hero  of  the  legend  rather  than  the  raven. 

But  leaves  fade  in  autumn,  drop  away  and  die ; 
and,  therefore,  men  had  to  die,  and  in  conse 
quence  all  their  old  religious  services  were  ser 
vices  for  the  dead.  These  services  were  conduct 
ed  at  the  potlatch  feast.  Food  eaten  there  or 
food  burned  there  was  given  to  the  dead.  At  the 
time  of  the  burning  of  the  food,  the  name  of  the 
chief  and  of  his  retainers  was  called  out,  and 
this  was  a  summons  to  the  spirits  to  come  and 
partake  of  the  food. 

If  no  blankets  were  given  away  in  a  potlatch 
feast,  then  the  dead  would  be  cold  and  hungry 
in  the  next  world.  He  who  had  a  big  feast  given 
in  his  honor  in  this  world  would  have  a  royal 
place  in  the  next  world.  It  was,  therefore,  con 
sidered  as  the  greatest  act  of  piety  for  a  person 
to  help  the  dead  in  the  next  world.  The  living 
might  be  neglected,  but  the  dead,  never. 

The  Raven,  after  he  had  created  man,  went 
about  to  teach  men  how  to  live.  He  taught  them 
how  to  make  war,  different  arts,  and  the  season 
for  the  potlatch.  The  Raven  in  his  conduct  to 
ward  the  animals  appears  more  in  the  light  of  a 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


13 


trickster.  This  is  so  much  so  that  all  words 
meaning  tricks,  cunning  and  the  like  have  the 
Raven  as  their  root  word. 

At  the  time  of  the  flood  the  Raven,  with  his 
mother  in  his  arms,  flew  up  to  the  sky  and  stuck 
his  bill  in  the  sky  and  remained  there  until  the 
flood  subsided.  This  is  given  as  the  reason  why 


THE  RAVEN  TOTEM 

The  totem  is  surmounted  by  the  Raven  Crea 
tor.  On  the  older  poles  he  is  represented  as  a 
man.  The  hat  is  supposed  to  be  a  copy  of  one 
that  the  young  Raven  saw  in  the  Creator's  house. 

The  box  is  a  chief's  box,  supposed  to  have 
spiritual  power,  and  was  used  in  potlatch  feasts. 


THE   RAVEN   TOTEM 


the  Raven's  beak  is  bent.  There  is  another  leg 
end,  however,  which  explains  the  same  phenome 
non  by  saying  that  the  Raven  once  disguised 
himself  as  a  fish  and  that  a  fisherman  caught 
him  and  pulled  off  his  nose.  Afterwards  by  a 
trick  he  found  out  where  the  nose  was  and  by 
another  trick  secured  it  and  put  it  back  on  again, 
but  did  not  get  it  on  straight. 

After  the  flood  the  Raven  disappears  from  his 
tory. 


Below  is  the  young  Raven,  the  Creator  of 
man.  He  is  represented  as  a  raven  with  a  man 
between  the  wings.  This  is  to  show  that  he 
could  become  a  raven  or  man  at  will. 

Below  is  the  daughter  of  the  Creator  and  the 
mother  of  the  young  Raven. 

The  lowest  figure  of  all  is  Hi-yi-shon-a-gu,  the 
Indian  Atlas,  who  holds  up  the  earth. 

Hi-yi-shon-a-gu  was  the  first  mother  of  the 
Raven  before  his  reincarnation. 


14 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIANS 


The  Beaver  Legend  of  Kilisnu  and 
Kicksetti  Totem 


THE  BEAVER  LEGEND  OF  KILISNU 

A  great  chief  kept  a  very  intelligent  beaver  as 
a  pet.  He  paid  so  much  attention  to  it  that  the 
rest  of  the  tribe  became  very  jealous  of  it,  and 
they  teased  it  most  unmercifully.  The  beaver 
appealed  to  the  chief  for  protection,  but  he  re 
fused  to  grant  it.  This  enraged  the  beaver,  who 
went  out  into  the  pool  of  water  and  began  to  dig 


hand,  and  with  the  spear  showing  the  mark  of 
his  teeth  where  he  had  been  gnawing.  The 
beaver  took  the  spear  and  hid  it  in  the  hollow  of 
a  tree  standing  nearby.  Some  hunters  shortly 
afterwards  discovered  the  shaving  made  by  the 
beaver  as  he  gnawed  away  on  the  salmon  spear, 
and  traced  them  to  the  hollow  tree,  and  there, 
of  course,  they  discovered  the  spear. 


THE  KICKSETTI  TOTEM   AND   SUN   HOUSE 


under  the  village.  While  he  was  doing  this  he 
was  a  giant,  but,  outside,  he  was  nothing  but  a 
beaver. 

One  day  he  went  out  into  the  woods  and  made 
a  salmon  spear.  The  beaver  is  usually  repre 
sented  on  totem  poles  as  having  this  spear  in  his 


The  spear  was  in  such  an  unusual  place  that 
the  hunters  judged  that  there  was  something  un 
canny  about  it,  and  they  brought  it  to  the  house 
of  the  chief.  The  people  were  much  excited  by 
the  finding  of  the  spear  and  they  all  thronged  to 
the  chief's  house,  curious  to  find  out  about  it. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


15 


The  chief  in  turn  asked  each  one  of  his  tribes 
men  about  the  spear,  if  he  had  made  it;  and  one 
after  another  replied  that  he  had  not. 

The  beaver  kept  saying  "I  made  it,"  and  at 
this  all  the  tribesmen  began  to  hiss  and  laugh. 
The  chief  even  lost  his  patience  and  chided  the 
beaver  for  saying  such  a  foolish  thing,  and  said 
to  the  beaver,  "You  lie  when  you  say  you  made 
that  spear."  At  this  the  beaver  said,  "I  will 
prove  to  you  that  I  am  strong  enough  to  handle 
it."  and  then  he  took  the  spear  and  thrust  it  at 
the  chief.  It  entered  his  breast  and  killed  him. 
Then  quickly  the  beaver  thrust  it  at  others  who 
were  trying  to  prevent  his  escape  and  killed  them 
and  rushed  out  into  the  pool,  where  he  was  ac 
customed  to  live,  and  went  into  the  chambers  that 
he  had  made  under  the  village,  and  pulled  out 
the  part  of  the  foundation  that  was  still  left  and 
the  village  fell.  As  a  consequence,  the  survivors 
took  the  beaver  as  their  totem. 

This  story  illustrates  what  made  a  family  aris 
tocratic.  It  was  not  the  wealth  of  the  family, 
or  any  special  power  it  might  exercise  in  war.  It 
was  whether  anything  uncanny  or  mysterious  had 
happened  to  it.  Had  some  mysterious  power 
taken  part  in  its  history.  If  so,  the  family  was 
aristrocratic.  and  had  a  right  to  the  use  of  a 
totem. 

THE  KICKSETTI  TOTEM 

The  Kicksetti  people  derived  their  name  from 
Kicks  Bay,  where  they  first  stopped  in  their  mi 


grations  north  from  the  mouth  of  the  Nass  River 
to  the  Stikine  River. 

The  pole  is  surmounted  with  a  face  which 
represents  a  mountain.  It  is  here  noticed  eyes 
and  faces  are  very  liberally  sprinkled  over  works 
of  art  of  the  north  coast  Pacific  Indians.  Their 
use  is  to  show  that  some  special  intelligence  or 
spiritual  power  was  lodged  there.  This  mountain 
was  the  camping  place  on  the  Stikine  River, 
where  the  legends  of  the  tribe  were  supposed  to 
take  place. 

Below  is  the  frog,  the  emblem  of  the  tribe. 
One  of  the  chiefs  did  some  mischief  to  the  frog. 
In  consequence,  he  appears  to  have  fallen  into  a 
trance.  When  he  came  out  of  his  trance  he  said 
that  he  had  been  in  the  underworld  and  had  been 
taught  by  the  frogs  to  treat  them  better,  because 
they  were  brothers. 

Below  is  the  old  Raven,  the  Creator,  talking 
to  the  young  Raven  that  made  man.  The  lowest 
figure  of  all  is  the  Kilisnoo  beaver.  The  father 
belonged  to  the  beaver  family  and  the  mother  be 
longed  to  the  frog  family. 

The  Thlinget  Indians  were  matronymic.  The 
children  always  belonged  to  the  mothers  family. 

The  house  has  the  symbol  of  the  sun.  The 
story  is  that  a  branch  of  the  family  descended 
from  a  nephew  who  was  not  liked  by  his  uncle, 
so  he  wandered  away  from  home  and  there  had 
a  dream  that  if  he  would  build  a  house  with  a 
round  opening,  high  up  in  front,  it  would  bring 
him  good  luck. 


16 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


The  Kit  Legend  and  Totem 


A  man  was  marooned  on  an  island  by  some 
bad  brothers.  While  wandering  over  the  island 
he  came  to  a  place  where  there  was  a  door.  He 
rapped  and  the  door  was  opened  and  he  was 


They  agreed,  and  he  healed  him.  The  chief 
then  told  him  to  carve  two  fish  out  of  cedar  and 
place  them  in  the  water.  "You  get  on  their 
backs.  If,  while  there,  von  think  onlv  of  vonr 


THE   KIT   TOTEM 

The  opening  in  the  back  was  where  the  bones  and  ashes  of  the 
cremated  were  kept.  To  the  right  and  back  of  the  Kit  Totem  is  the 
Tihitan  Totem,  or  totem  of  the  bark-house  people.  There  was  once 
trouble  in  the  Kicksetti  family.  Part  moved  out  and  lived  in  a  bark 
house,  and  hence  the  name  Tihitan,  or  bark-house  people. 


bidden  to  enter.  He  was  now  among  the  seals. 
Their  chief  was  lying  down,  very  sick,  having 
been  wounded  with  an  arrow.  They  asked  him 
to  heal  the  chief.  He  said  to  the  seals:  "I  will 
heal  your  chief  if  you  will  provide  a  way  for  me 
to  return  to  mv  home  ami  familv.1' 


family,  they  will  take  yon  to  them;  but,  if,  while 
there,  you  think  of  your  bad  brothers  and  of 
revenge,  they  will  bring  you  back." 

The  man  did  just  as  he  was  told  and  found 
that  everything  happened  just  as  the  seals  had 
prophesied,  for  when  he  was  i>art  way  home  he 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


17 


began  to  think  about  his  bad  brother  and  the  fish 
turned  to  bring  him  back.  He  finally  reached 
his  home.  Then  the  fish  killed  the  bad  brothers, 
and  so  their  maker  was  revenged.  After  this 
they  were  told  not  to  kill  any  more  men — they 
were  only  to  kill  whales.  Hence  ever  since  they 
have  heen  called  "whale-killers." 


The  totem  of  the  Kit,  or  whale-killer,  is  highly 
prized  among  the  Thlingets,  because  it  is  such  a 
strong  and  brave  fish  in  that  It  is  able  to  kill 
whales. 

Note : — This  island  was  named  by  the  Indians 
Nar-Zeel-Naun  and  on  the  charts  it  is  called 
Duke  Island. 


The  Legend  of  the  Mosquito 


There  were  giants  in  the  land.  One  of  these 
giants  Kos-sa-ka  was  a  noted  man-eater.  His 
great  delight  was  to  kill  and  eat  them.  To  drink 
their  blood  was  to  him  like  drinking  old  wine. 
It  made  him  feel  that  he  was  very  rich. 

Also,  in  those  days,  there  was  a  young  man 
who  made  a  business  of  killing  giants.  "Count 
that  day  lost  in  which  I  don't  kill  a  giant,"  was 
the  principle  of  his  life.  So  he  determined  to 
kill  this  man-eating  giant. 

One  day  he  stole  into  the  giant's  house  and 
hid  himself  under  some  blankets.  But  the  giant 
found  him.  The  giant  said:  "I'll  kill  hi  n  and 
eat  him  and  drink  his  blood."  And  he  went  out 
to  get  his  knife.  This  giant  had  often  been  shot 


at,  but  the  arrows  had  bounded  off.  That  was 
what  made  the  giant  so  dangerous. 

Soon  the  son  of  the  giant  came  in  and  the  boy 
jumped  up  and  pointed  his  arrow  at  the  son  of 
the  giant  and  said :  "Tell  me  how  I  can  kill  your 
father,  or  I  will  kill  you."  The  boy  replied : 
"Shoot  him  on  his  instep.  His  heart  is  there.. 

The  giant  soon  came  in,  and  our  hero  pointed 
an  arrow  at  his  foot  and  shot  him.  The  dying 
giant  said  :  "Though  you  burn  me,  I'll  bite  you." 

Our  hero  burned  the  giant's  body  and  threw 
the  ashes  up  into  the  air,  and  said.  "Bite  me, 
will  you?"  Each  particle  of  ashes  became  a 
mosquito,  and  so  the  giant  has  been  biting  man 
ever  since. 


THE  CHIEF  OF  THE  FIRE  SPIRITS     DREW  HER  UP  AND  MARRIED  HER 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


19 


Intellectual  Life  of  the  Thlinget 

Indians 


UR  museums  have  done  splendid 
work  in  picturing  the  life  of  the 
primitive  Indian  before  he  came  in 
contact  with  the  white  man.  The 
scenes  in  their  display  cases,  the 
realistic  wax  figures,  their  arrangement,  and  the 
paintings  in  the  background  leave  nothing  to  be 
desired  to  create  the  illustration  that  are  actually 
back  in  the  old  days  among  the  primitive  people. 
But  as  one  visits  these  museums  the  questions 
arise:  What  did  these  people  talk  about?  How 
did  they  think?  What,  in  brief,  was  their  intel 
lectual  atmosphere? 

It  will  be  the  endeavor  in  this  narrative  to 
create  anew  the  intellectual  atmosphere  of  the 
Alaska  Thlinget  Indians,  to  show  what  they 
thought  and  talked  about  in  those  old  days. 

Let  the  reader  imagine  himself  to  arrive  in 
a  canoe  at  one  of  the  low,  square  hunting  houses 
found  here  and  there  along  the  shores  of  the 
thousand  channels  between  the  many  islands  of 
southeastern  Alaska.  Let  the  time  be  early  in 
March.  The  cold  weather  has  held  on  a  little 
longer  than  usual.  Just  as  you  land  an  Indian, 
stealthly  paddling  along  the  shore,  comes  into 
view.  He  lands  near  where  you  have  landed. 

By  chance  you  know  his  language  and  he 
knows  something  of  yours.  As  you  begin  to 
talk  with  him  he  replies  in  short,  expressive  sen 
tences.  This  leads  you  to  believe  that,  naturally, 
he  is  a  man  of  very  few  words.  A  better  ac 
quaintance  with  him  will  show  that  your  first 
impressions  were  wrong.  The  brevity  was  due 
partially  to  the  fact  that  he  understood  your  lan 
guage  imperfectly,  and  consequently  was  more  or 
less  embarrassed  in  your  presence. 

You  notice  that  the  canoe  that  he  pulls  up  on 
the  beach  is  painted  black.  You  ask  the  reason. 
In  reply,  he  gives  you  a  picture  of  society  which 
is  literally  without  law.  Every  man  was  expect 
ed  to  look  out  for  himself.  If  one  even  by  an 
accident  killed  another,  that  had  to  be  atoned 
for  either  by  payment  of  blankets  or  else  by  the 
death  of  the  man  who  did  the  killing  or  of  one  of 
his  clansmen. 

But  there  was  no  power  to  compel  this,  and 
if  the  clan  that  did  the  injury  did  not  care  to 
settle,  the  members  of  the  injured  clan  claimed 
the  right  to  get  even  the  best  way  that  they 


could.  This  was  usually  by  means  of  assassina 
tion.  The  injured  clansmen  would  lie  in  wait 
for  those  who  had  not  or  would  not  pay  these 
supposed  debts  and  try  to  kill  them.  The  con 
sequence  was  an  Indian  would  paint  his  canoe 
black,  so  that  he  could  paddle  along  the  shore 
unobserved  by  his  enemies ;  and  at  night  he  did 
not  dare  to  sleep  by  his  campfire,  but  after  his 
evening  meal  was  cooked  would  take  his  blanket 
and  creep  off  into  the  brush  where  he  could  sleep 
without  fear  of  assassination.  Many  of  the 
houses  had  underground  passageways,  whither 
the  occupants  of  a  house  could  flee  in  the  event 
that  the  house  was  taken  by  an  enemy. 

The  first  feature  of  their  intellectual  life  was 
necessitated  by  this  condition  of  continual  war 
fare.  It  taught  them  to  be  watchful  and  alert, 
and  at  the  same  time  suspicious. 

With  the  Indian  are  three  boys,  one  of 
eighteen,  one  of  fourteen,  and  the  third  scarcely 
twelve.  The  appearance  of  these  boys  suggested 
that  the  man  was  not  their  father.  The  resem 
blance  between  them  and  the  rnan  was  very 
slight  and  the  boys  were  treated  differently  from 
what  you  would  expect  sons  to  be  treated.  This 
causes  you  to  ask  one  of  the  boys  if  the  man  is 
his  father.  The  reply  comes  back,  "No,  he  is 
our  uncle." 

It  was  customary,  you  find  on  questioning  the 
uncle,  for  boys  to  leave  their  home  at  about 
twelve  years  of  age  and  live  with  their  mother's 
brother.  It  was  to  the  mother's  clan  that  the  boy 
belonged,  and  so  the  boy  went  to  his  mother's 
brother  to  be  educated. 

The  education  was  very  practical.  The  boys 
were  taught  how  to  make  traps  for  the  fishing, 
how  to  hunt,  and  also  trap  the  game. 

This  comprised  more  than  might  be  ordinarily 
supposed.  Each  boy  was  expected  to  learn  the 
story  of  Kayak,  the  hero  hunter,  who  did  so  much 
to  free  the  world  from  monsters,  and  who  also 
taught  the  people  how  to  make  carved  halibut 
hooks,  carved  salmon  spears  and  carved  traps  for 
catching  game.  He  taught  just  how  to  carve  so 
that  some  spiritual  power  would  come  and  in 
habit  the  hook  or  trap,  and  thus  make  it  more 
effective  to  attract  the  game  to  it.  Wood  carv 
ing,  therefore,  was  a  part  of  the  boy's  education, 
and  he  was  taught  to  carve  his  figures  in  a  pre 
scribed  way,  so  that  there  would  be  no  doubt 


20 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIAXS 


about  the  coming  of  the  spiritual  power  to  in 
habit  the  image  that  he  had  made. 

But  the  training  that  the  youth  received  in 
hunting  and  fishing  was  by  no  means  confined  to 
matters  of  superstition.  He  received  all  kinds 
of  training  in  hunting  and  fishing.  The  manner 
of  making  traps  for  both  large  and  small  game 
was  taught,  as  also  the  manufacture  of  contriv 
ances  for  the  catching  of  fish. 

In  our  digression,  we  left  the  uncle  and  his 
three  nephews  unloading  a  canoe.  Let  us  re 
turn  to  them.  The  youngest  of  the  three,  having 
lately  come  to  his  uncle,  lags  behind  the  others 
in  doing  his  share  of  the  work.  The  uncle  urges 
him  on  and  with  a  wink  and  smile  to  the  older 


cold  sea-water.  The  older  boys  follow.  Out 
they  come  and  begin  to  whip  each  other  with 
the  hemlock  boughs  which  they  had  prepared. 
The  youngest  comes  out  whimpering,  and  he 
specially  gets  the  lashing.  Then  all  three  boys 
put  on  their  clothes  and  hurry  to  the  house. 

The  uncle  turns  to  you  and  says,  "That  makes 
them  strong." 

You  ask,  "How?" 

He  replies :  "A  long  time  ago.  a  very  strong 
man,  Ductut — 

"Who  was  Ductut  ?"  you  ask. 

"Pretty  soon  I  eat,  and  then  I  tell  you,"  he 
replies. 

It   is   along   toward    evening,    and   they    all    go 


BOY   SCOUTS   BATHING   NEAR   BIG  GLACIER,   STICKINE 


brothers,  says.  "We  must  make  your  brother 
strong.  He  is  too  weak." 

Your  curiosity  is  aroused,  and  you  watch 
further  proceeding  very  closely.  The  skins  that 
are  taken  out  of  the  canoe  are  handed  to  the 
mother  and  daughters,  who  have  come  to  get 
them.  They  take  them  to  the  house,  to  dry  and 
to  prepare  them  for  use. 

After  the  canoe  is  unloaded  the  uncle  and 
nephews  go  to  a  place  along  the  bay  where  the 
beach  is  sandy.  The  uncle  then  commands, 
"Nephews,  swim."  To  you  it  does  not  look  pos 
sible  for  a  swim.  There  is  ice  in  the  bay  and 
you  wonder  what  he  means. 

The  older  boys  immediately  prepare  for  a  bath. 
The  youngest  does  not  move.  The  uncle  quickly 
picks  him  up  and  in  spite  of  his  tears  and  cries, 
pulls  off  his  clothes  and  throws  him  into  the 


to  the  house.  The  meal  is  being  served.  It  con 
sists  of  smoked  salmon,  very  dry  and  hard,  and 
of  seaweed.  Some  is  passed  to  you  and  you 
try  to  eat.  At  first  it  seems  impossible.  The 
food  is  hard  and  tough  like  sole  leather. 

You  look  at  them  and  find  the  whole  family 
devoting  their  whole  attention  to  eating,  and 
how  they  eat !  It  would  have  delighted  the  eyes 
of  a  most  devout  Fletcherite  to  have  watched 
them.  Each  mouthful  of  food  was  masticated 
at  least  four  hundred  times  before  it  was  swal 
lowed. 

The  meal  is  over.  There  are  no  dishes  to 
do.  The  remnants  are  thrown  into  the  fire  and 
consumed.  Then  for  a  time  they  all  gather 
around  the  fire  and  sit  in  mute  silence. 

Then  you  ask  again,  "Who  was  this  strong 
man,  Ductut?" 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


21 


So  comes  the  reply :  "A  great  chief  wanted 
to  kill  the  sea  lions.  His  name  was  Katlwait. 
There  were  no  guns  in  those  days,  and  so  the 
chief  had  to  kill  the  sea  lions  by  hand.  He  had 
to  get  very  strong.  He  went  to  an  Indian  doctor 
and  said,  'How  shall  I  get  strong?'  Then  the 
Indian  doctor  acted  all  same  dead.  His  spirit 
went  away  from  him.  It  came  back  and  he 
said,  'Katlwait,  you  and  all  your  people,  in  winter 
time  every  morning  go  and  bathe  in  sea  water, 
and  you  will  get  the  strength.' 

"  'How  shall  we  know  when  we  are  strong 
enough  to  kill  the  sea  lions?"  asked  Katlwait. 

"The  Indian  doctor  said,  'See  the  limb  of  that 
tree.  Pull  it  out.  See  that  tree  about  as  large 
as  your  hand;  twist  its  trunk  and  you  will  be 
strong  enough  to  kill  the  sea  lions.' 

"Then  all  the  people  went  to  bathe  every  morn 
ing,  and  then  they  would  try  to  pull  the  limb  out 
and  twist  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  but  no  one  was 
able. 

"The  chief  had  a  nephew.  His  name  was 
Darkurchie.  He  would  not  go  and  bathe  when 
the  rest  did.  He  said,  'It  is  too  cold.' 

"Katlwait,  very  mad,  said  to  his  wives  (he  had 
two),  'Don't  give  Darkurchie  anything  to  eat,' 
and  told  him,  'Stay  with  the  women,'  and  all  the 
people  laughed  at  him. 

"The  younger  wife  saved  some  food  for  him 
and  gave  him  to  eat. 

By  night  Darkurchie,  when  every  one  slept, 
would  go  out  and  when  he  had  bathed  would  re 
turn,  and  put  a  blanket  over  his  head  and  then 
lean  over  the  fire  to  dry  and  warm  himself.  The 
soot  blackened  his  face. 

"The  chief  next  morning  saw  it,  and  cried 
out,  'Our  girl  man  has  a  dirty  face.  We  will 
call  him  Ductut  after  this,'  and  they  all  laughed 
and  called  him  Ductut,  or  Dirty  Face. 

"But  Ductut,  he  smart.  He  said  nothing.  He 
just  kept  on  bathing.  One  night  when  he  was 
in  bathing  a  man  came  to  him,  and  wrestled 
with  him.  It  was  hard  fought.  At  last  the  man 
threw  him. 

"Then  the  man  said,  'Darkurchie,  you  do  good 
work.  Keep  on  bathing.  Pretty  soon  you  throw 
me.  I  am  the  East  Wind.  When  you  throw  me 
you  will  be  strong  enough  to  kill  the  sea  lions.' 

"Pretty  soon  the  East  Wind  came  again. 
Darkurchie  threw  him.  Then  the  East  Wind 
said,  'You  will  do.  Pull  the  knot  out  of  the 
tree  and  twist  the  trunk  of  the  young  tree.  That 
night,  he  pulled  the  knot  out  and  put  it  back 
again,  and  twisted  the  trunk  of  the  young  tree 
and  then  untwisted  it  so  it  would  not  look  as 
though  it  had  been  touched. 


"Next  morning  Katlwait  went  into  the  cold 
water  and  then  ran  to  the  tree.  He  pulled  the 
knot  out  just  as  easy  as  could  be,  and  twisted 
the  trunk  of  the  young  tree  just  as  easy  be 
cause  all  this  had  been  done  before.  He  praised 
himself  because  he  was  so  strong,  but  he  was 
not.  He  just  fooled  himself.  Then  all  the 
people  took  the  big  canoe  and  went  with  Katlwait 
to  kill  the  sea  lions. 

"Darkurchie  went,  too.  They  came  to  the 
place  where  the  sea  lions  were.  Katlwait 
leaped  out  of  the  canoe,  and  ran  to  meet  the 
sea  lions.  The  sea  lions  broke  his  head  on  a 
rock. 

"Then  Darkurchie  made  a  speech  and  told  how 
he  had  pulled  the  knot  out  of  the  tree  and  twisted 
the  trunk  of  the  young  tree,  and  then  he  leaped 
out  and  ran  to  the  sea  lions.  He  killed  them  one 
by  one,  taking  hold  of  their  tails,  tearing  them 
into  two  pieces. 

"Then  darkurchie  became  a  big  chief  and  very 
rich. 

"So  always  we  have  our  boys  bathe  every  win 
ter  in  cold  water  to  make  them  strong." 

As  soon  as  the  native  had  finished  his  story, 
you  looked  around,  and  noticed  the  oldest  of 
the  boys  holding  up  his  arm  and  feeling  of  his 
muscle  and  noddling  his  head  as  if  to  say: 
'That  is  right.  I  have  tried  it  and  I  know  that 
it  is  true." 

The  story  of  Darkurchie  has  been  dwelt  upon 
at  length  because  it  occupies  such  a  prominent 
place  in  the  minds  of  the  old  Indians.  That 
plunge  into  ice-cold  water  was  one  of  thq  earliest 
recollections  of  his  childhood.  If  big  game  were 
secured  it  had  to  be  secured  in  a  hand-to-hand 
contest.  If  he  succeeded  in  defending  himself 
from  his  enemies,  it  was  because  he  had  per 
sonal  strength.  Little  else  was  really  of  any 
worth.  They  had  their  orators  and  dancers,  but 
these  usually  were  not  of  the  higher  caste.  To 
be  a  good  fighter  was  the  proper  ambition  of  the 
young  man  of  the  higher  caste.  All  of  his  train 
ing  had  for  its  purpose  to  make  him  strong  and 
a  good  fighter,  consequently  on  many  totem  poles 
there  is  a  carved  figure  of  a  man  tearing  a  sea 
lion.  The  purpose  of  this  is  to  illustrate  the 
story  of  Darkurchie,  and  also  to  teach  the  youth 
the  great  virtue  of  doing  everything  possible  to 
acquire  physical  strength. 

After  one  story  is  told  others  follow  in  rapid 
succession. 

One  appears  to  be  a  warning  to  the  practical 
joker. 

"One  time  the  beaver  and  porcupine  were  great 
friends.  The  porcupine  oftentimes  visited  the 


22 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


beaver,  and  protected  his  home  so  that  it  would 
not  be  destroyed.  One  day  the  beaver  wished 
to  go  to  the  porcupine's  house.  The  porcupine 
said,  'Get  on  my  back  and  I  will  carry  you.'  The 
porcupine  then  ran  up  a  tree  and  left  the  beaver 
there.  The  beaver  kept  crying,  'Come  and  get  me 
down,'  but  the  porcupine  made  believe  that  he  did 
not  hear.  Finally  the  squirrel  came  along  and 
helped  the  beaver  down. 

"Next  day  the  porcupine  said  to  the  beaver, 
'Take  me  to  your  house.'  The  beaver  answered, 
'All  right,  get  on  my  back,'  and  when  it  did  the 
beaver  ran  to  a  lake  and  swam  to  an  island  and 
left  the  porcupine  there. 

"The  porcupine  then  began  to  sing  a  song, 
'Let  it  be  frozen  so  that  I  can  cross  to  wolverine 
man's  land.'  The  lake  was  then  frozen  over  and 
the  porcupine  escaped.  After  that  the  beaver  and 
the  porcupine  ceased  to  be  friends." 

Another  version  of  this  story  makes  the  beaver 
climb  down  out  of  the  tree  himself,  which  gave 
the  ragged  appearance  to  the  bark  of  some  trees. 

After  the  telling  of  this  story  one  of  the  boys 
remarked  that  he  was  glad  that  they  were  not 
compelled  to  sleep  in  the  brush  that  night  as 
they  did  the  night  before.  Another  of  the  boys 
replied  to  this,  wishing  all  kinds  of  vengeance 
upon  their  enemies,  who  were  continually  trying 
to  kill  them. 

At  this  the  uncle  spoke  up  and  said :  "Stop, 
my  nephew,  you  must  not  speak  so  harshly  of 
your  enemies.  Remember  the  story  of  the  man 
that  entertained  the  bears." 

"What  is  that?"  exclaimed  the  youngest. 

"Once  upon  a  time,"  the  uncle  replied,  "a  man 
was  feeling  very  lonely  because  he  had  lost  all 
of  his  relations.  He  first  thought  that  he  would 
leave  and  go  and  live  in  some  other  country. 
Then  he  said,  'I  cannot  do  that,  because  I  would 
be  taken  as  a  wizard  if  I  went  alone  to  some 
other  country." 

"Then  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go  out  near  a 
salmon  stream  and  wait  there  until  some  bears 
that  were  wont  to  go  that  way  should  destroy 
him. 

"When  the  bears  came  he  was  very  much 
frightened.  He  did  not  wish  to  be  torn  to  pieces, 
and  so  he  spoke  very  nicely  to  them  and  invited 
them  to  a  feast. 

"The  next  day  they  came  to  his  house  and 
he  served  them  with  all  kinds  of  good  things  to 
eat.  The  bears  after  that  were  very  kind  to  that 
man  and  brought  him  all  sorts  of  good  luck. 

"From  that  we  learn,  my  nephew,  to  speak 
well  of  our  enemies.  Sometimes  we  conquer 
them  that  wav." 


Then  the  chief  turned  to  the  visitor  and  said, 
"My  nephews  are  among  the  dog  eaters." 
"What  is  that?"  you  ask. 

The  uncle  replied :  "A  long  time  ago  a  chief's 
son  was  very  smart  and  became  a  great  hunter. 
One  time  he  was  out  hunting  and  he  fell  from 
the  top  of  a  mountain,  and  for  a  long  time  he 
was  just  like  one  dead. 

"Soon  he  woke  up,  and  he  was  surrounded  by  a 
circle  of  men  and  each  one  had  a  circle  of  light 
around  him,  and  they  asked  what  kind  of  a  spirit 
he  would  have — the  spirit  of  a  wolf  or  a  raven. 
He  replied,  'The  spirit  of  a  wolf.' 

"Then  he  began  to  dance,  while  all  the  spirits 
of  the  mountains  sang  and  kept  time  for  him. 
The  words  of  their  songs  were,  'He  steps  upon 
the  high  places  of  the  earth.' 

"This  young  man  went  forth  and  began  to  start 
secret  societies.  One  of  them  was  the  'Dog 
Eaters'  Society.'  Those  who  are  initiated  fast 
four  days  and  then  they  blacken  their  faces,  and 
are  supposed  to  eat  the  flesh  of  a  dog,  and  then 
they  at  night  go  around  and  show  the  bones  of 
the  dog  in  proof  that  they  have  eaten  it. 

"Then  the  spirit  that  makes  a  man  smart  like 
the  wolf,  and  keen  for  game  as  the  dog,  takes 
possession  of  him." 

After  this  ricital  you  ask  him  what  he  means 
by  spirits. 

He  explains :  "All  things  have  spirits.  The 
mountains  and  the  valleys  and  the  waters  all 
have  their  spirits.  There  is  a  spirit  for  each 
different  kind  of  animal  and  bird.  The  fish  of 
the  sea,  too,  have  their  spirits. 

"In  some,  bad  spirits  live.  The  rat  and  the 
crab  always  have  bad  spirits  in  them.  Some 
times  spirits  from  the  good  animals  get  into 
man  and  he  becomes  very  rich,  or  he  may  be 
an  Indian  doctor." 

You  ask  how  a  person  gets  good  spirits. 

He  replies :  "A  man  must  fast  and  keep  him 
self  pure.  Sometimes  he  fasts  one  month,  some 
times  two  months,  and  then  he  falls  down  just  as 
if  he  were  dead.  Then  we  know  the  spirits  have 
come  to  him." 

"What  good  are  these  spirits?"  you  ask. 
"What  do  they  do?" 

"They  help  lots ;  they  make  one  rich,"  replied 
the  Indian. 

"But  how  do  they  help?"  you  ask. 

The  Indian  replied : 

"One  time  a  woman  was  very  sick,  and  there 
was  an  Indian  to  whom  the  spirits  had  come 
and  taught  him  a  new  kind  of  dance.  He  had 
something  like  what  1  have  seen  society  men 
wear  down  in  Victoria  when  they  are  out  pa- 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


23 


rading.  On  it  was  a  picture  we  call  'Ka-nest.' 
It  was  worn  around  the  neck.  This  Ka-nest 
was  like  the  church's  cross.  We  call  the  cross 
'Ka-nest.' 

"This  Indian  doctor  would  dance  before  the 
sick.  He  would  look  up  high  when  he  was  danc 
ing  and  appear  to  call  on  someone  up  there; 
then,  when  it  seemed  as  though  he  would  drop 
dead  from  dancing  too  much,  he  would  throw 
the  Ka-nest  over  the  head  of  that  sick  person, 
and  that  sick  person  would  get  up  and  be  healed 
by  the  dance.  One  time  I  saw  one  woman  very 
sick  healed  by  this  Indian  doctor. 

"Sometimes  the  Indian  doctor  would  not  be 
able  to  cure  the  sick  man  and  then  he  would 
begin  to  try  to  find  out  what  was  causing  the 
sickness.  He  might  find  some  man  or  some 
woman  or  witch,  who  was  using  the  evil  spirit 
to  make  the  man  sick.  This  is  the  very  great 
est  sin.  This  sin  is  worse  than  stealing  or  mur 
der.  The  man  that  is  caught  doing  this  is  pun 
ished  hard,  until  he  promises  not  to  use  the  evil 
spirit  any  more." 

"Can  you  tell  me  some  more  stories  about 
Indian  doctors?"  you  ask. 

The  Indian  continues :  "One  time  some  peo 
ple  lived  on  the  point  where  the  Wrangell  peo 
ple  now  bury  their  dead.  There  was  a  chief, 
who  had  a  nephew  whom  he  called  very  lazy. 
The  boy  was  no  good,  he  was  so  lazy. 

"The  chief  said,  'You  no  work,  you  no  eat, 
you  starve.' 

"So  he  left  the  boy  and  a  very  old  woman  at 
home  with  nothing  to  eat,  and  they  all  went  up 
the  Stikine  River  to  get  fish. 

"The  boy  the  next  day  went  out  on  the  beach 
just  below  the  point  and  found  two  dead  deer 
lying  there  with  the  meat  all  good.  The  place 
is  called  in  our  language  today  'The  place  where 
two  deer  lay.'  He  brought  some  of  the  meat  to 
his  aunt  and  they  dried  it  for  food. 

"Next  week  the  boy  fell  down,  all  same  dead. 
He  woke  up  and  went  to  his  aunt  and  said,  'We 
must  clean  our  house  real  clean,  for  the  spirits 
are  coming  to  help  us.' 

"Next  day  the  birds  began  to  fly  around  and 
around  as  if  they  were  driving  something.  Then 
the  boy  looked  out  in  the  water  and  saw  a  great 
shoal  of  salmon  and  halibut  coming  toward  the 
shore.  He  caught  the  fish  and  dried  them,  and 
kept  on  doing  so  until  he  had  filled  his  house  full 
of  dried  fish. 

"Soon  after  the  house  was  filled  with  fish  the 
boy  saw  two  men  in  a  canoe  coming  near  the 
town  where  he  was.  When  they  came  still 
nearer,  he  saw  that  they  were  two  men  from  his 
uncle. 


"The  fish  that  summer  did  not  go  up  the  river 
as  usual,  and  so  the  people  were  very  hungry, 
and  the  chief  thought  that  the  nephew  had 
starved  to  death  and  had  sent  these  two  men  to 
do  the  funeral  rites.  It  was  a  very  pious  thing 
to  look  after  the  dead. 

"They  found  how  rich  the  nephew  had  become. 
They  went  back  and  told  the  chief  about  the 
nephew  and  the  fish.  The  chief  and  his  people 
got  into  their  canoes  and  came  back  home.  The 
nephew  forgave  his  uncle  and  fed  the  people. 

"He  was  a  great  Indian  doctor.  He  became 
very  rich  and  had  lots  of  slaves." 

After  the  Indian  had  finished  these  stories,  he 
said :  "No  more  tonight.  Tomorrow  I  will  tell 
you  more." 

All  the  people  in  the  house  begin  to  spread 
their  blankets  for  bed.  The  chief  takes  his  place 
in  the  back  part  of  the  building  on  the  platform. 
He  is  farthest  from  the  front  door,  and  the  rest 
are  allotted  places  on  the  platform  that  goes 
around  the  inside  of  the  house.  The  man  of  the 
lowest  rank  is  nearest  the  front  door. 

The  next  evening  you  ask  the  chief  to  tell  you 
about  the  evil  spirits  and  witchcraft.  At  this  he 
becomes  very  solemn,  and  the  voices  of  all  in  the 
house  are  hushed. 

The  Indian  began  :  "Up  high  there  is  a  great 
lake  of  evil.  From  this  lake  come  all  kinds  of 
sins — murder,  stealing,  adultery  and  falsehood. 
The  evil  spirits  help  men  to  get  hold  of  all  there 
and  use  them  for  the  destruction  of  others." 

"Did  this   ever  happen?"  you  ask. 

"One  time,'  replied  the  Indian,  "a  woman  was 
married  to  a  man  who  would  go  off  and  bring 
back  something  that  he  would  put  in  a  box  over 
head.  He  strictly  charged  the  woman  not  to 
open  the  box.  One  day  the  woman's  curiosity 
got  the  better  of  her,  and  to  her  horror  she 
discovered  the  box  was  full  of  hands,  and  she 
knew  by  marks  on  the  hands  that  they  were  those 
of  her  uncles. 

"That  night,  when  her  husband  returned,  she 
said :  'I  feel  very  lonesome.  I  want  to  go  back 
and  see  my  people.'  The  husband  replied :  'I 
take  you  back.' 

"They  returned,  and  when  she  got  back  she 
found  that  all  her  relatives  had  been  killed. 

"She  began  to  cry,  and  while  she  was  crying 
a  beautiful  young  man  came  to  her  and  tried 
to  comfort  her.  He  said :  'I  can  help  you  to 
kill  all  your  enemies.' 

"She   accepted  his  help,   and   they  got   into  a 

canoe  and  went  back  to  her  old  husband's  town, 

and   as  they   approached   the  town  he  began   to 

sing,  'Avenge  the  death.' 

"When  they  got  to  the  town  they  found  that 


24 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIANS 


a  strange  sickness  had  killed  her  old  husband 
and  all  his  relatives.  It  was  her  new  husband 
that  did  it.  He  was  really  a  rat  in  disguise. 
In  those  old  days  before  the  flood  it  was  quite 
customary  for  an  animal  to  disguise  itself  so 
it  would  be  taken  for  a  man. 

"Rats,  we  have  found  out,  are  the  chief  abodes 
for  the  evil  spirits.  Crabs  likewise  arc  homes 
of  evil  spirits.  Indians  never  cat  crabs.  They 
are  unclean.  Devil's  clubs  also  arc  very  attrac 
tive  to  evil  spirits. 


"He  may  make  a  chain  of  bones  to  wear  around 
his  neck,  or  he  may  steal  the  dead  body  of  an 
Indian  doctor  and  keep  it  in  his  house.  There 
are  many  ways  for  a  man  to  do  wrong." 

The  Indian  chief  stopped  a  moment;  all  was 
silence.  Just  then  a  spark  was  thrown  off  from  a 
burning  log  and  lit  on  the  clothes  of  one  of  the 
chief's  daughters. 

She  jumped  up  and  said:  "You  ugly  old  fire. 
You  arc  mean." 

The    chief    was    quite    excited    and    exclaimed  : 


THE    DEVIL    CLUB 

"One  time  lon-al-gic  was  gambling  and  had 
lost  all  of  his  property.  The  raven  came  to 
him  and  told  him  to  build  a  bouse  out  of  forty 
devil's  clubs  and  live  in  it,  and  fast  many  days 
and  lie  would  become  a  great  gambler.  He 
did  so  and  became  a  great  gambler,  just  as  the 
raven  said." 

"How  docs  a  person  get  the  evil  spirits  to 
help  him?"  you  ask. 

The  Indian  frowned  a  little  and  replied : 
"The  man  must  first  have  an  evil  mind  and 
then  get  dead  men's  hones.  He  usually  hangs 
around  graveyards  and  steals  them.  If  we  see  a 
man  or  woman  hanging  around  graveyards  at 
night  we  know  he  's  a  wizard, 


"You  must  not  say  that,  daughter.  One  time  a 
girl  said  that  and  the  chief  of  the  (ire  spirits 
drew  her  up  and  married  her,  and  for  a  long 
time  the  people  never  saw  her  again.  You  must 
respect  the  spirits." 

Then  the  chief  turned  around  and  said  :  "We 
believe  in  the  Raven  who  made  the  world.  We 
believe  in  his  grandson  who  made  men,  but  we 
must  specially  honor  the  spirits  because  they 
are  all  about  us  and  are  very  angry  if  we  do  not 
use  right  words  concerning  them." 

Just  then  an  old  grandmother  who  had  been 
lying  on  a  blanket  in  a  dark  corner  of  the  room 
spoke  up  and  said  in  a  deep,  trembling  voice: 
"Sons,  there  is  a  power  above.  You  must/  not  lie, 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


25 


you  must  not  steal,  you  must  not  kill,  or  he  will 
not  give  you  good  luck.  Go  to  the  woods  and 
pray  to  him  and  he  will  give  you  good  luck." 

Then  the  old  woman  fell  back  dead.  Imme 
diately  there  was  extravagant  weeping  in  the 
house.  It  was  like  the  wailing  of  hired  mourn 
ers.  After  the  first  excitement  resulting  from 
the  death  of  the  old  woman  had  subsided,  the 
chief  explained  what  they  would  do  with  the 
body  of  the  old  woman. 

She  was  of  high  caste,  and  therefore  special 
honors  were  necessary.  The  funeral  rites  were 
to  be  performed  by  the  tyee  of  the  opposite 
phratry.  A  large  number  of  blankets  would  be 
given  to  those  who  helped.  It  was  the  highest 
act  of  piety  to  take  care  of  the  dead.  There 
would  be  a  funeral  feast  and  the  property  given 
away  there  and  the  food  eaten  there  would  be 
just  the  same  as  given  to  the  dead. 

The  body  would  be  cremated,  so  that  the  old 
woman  in  the  next  world  would  live  in  a  nice 


warm  place,  and  not  be  struggling  to  get  near  a 
fire. 

Soon  after  you  go  outdoors  with  the  chief. 
The  northern  lights  that  night  are  specially 
bright.  Great  streams  of  light  go  out  in  all 
directions  from  the  north.  They  play  around 
like  happy  spirits.  The  chief  looks  at  them  with 
a  glow  of  pleasure  in  his  face,  and  exclaims : 
"Those  are  the  happy  spirits  of  men  killed  in 
battle  fighting  for  their  homes  and  families." 

You  ask  what  becomes  of  others  when  they 
die.  You  receive  the  answer  that  there  is  a 
great  river  separating  us  from  the  country  of 
the  dead.  A  great  canoe  is  there  to  carry  the 
spirits  over.  Sometimes  a  spirit  becomes  dis 
satisfied  and  returns  for  reincarnation.  But  all 
do  not  do  this. 

It  is  night  again.  The  next  day  you  return  to 
civilization  with  the  impression  that  you  have 
been  in  a  world  of  chance. 


26 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


Legends  of  Chief  Shakes'  Totems 


The  Legend  of  the  Grizzly  Bear 


T  the  time  of  the  flood  the  Shakes 
people  were  camping  near  Cone 
Mountain,  a  high  peak,  on  the  op 
posite  side  of  the  Stikine  River 
from  the  Great  Glacier,  and  a  few 
miles  further  inland.  As  the  waters  became  higher 
the  people  ascended  the  mountain.  They  found  two 


this  mask.  In  their  dances  he,  wearing  the 
mask,  would  appear  to  come  out  of  the  cave 
and  would  stealthily  creep  up  and  strangle  the 
slave,  who  had  been  tied  down  to  the  ground 
on  his  back  for  that  purpose.  This  has  been 
done  in  the  memory  of  our  oldest  Indians. 
The  figure  marked  "A"  in  Shakes'  collection  of 


CHIEF  SHAKES  AND  HIS  HOUSE 


grizzly  bears  were  seeking  the  same  place  of 
refuge.  They  were  at  first  frightened,  but  the  bears 
appeared  very  friendly.  They  acted  like  guides. 

As  the  waters  receded  they  killed  one  of  them 
and  made  from  it  a  mask.  When  one  mask  was 
worn  out.  another  was  made  just  like  it  to  take 
its  place,  and  this  has  been  continued  by  the 
Shakes  family  until  this  day. 

When  a  slave  was  to  be  sacrificed,  and  at  a 
potlatch  many  would  be,  the  chief  would  wear 


curios  is  a  mask  that  has  been  actually  used  for 
that  purpose.  It  has  been  in  the  Shakes  family 
for  many  generations.  The  Shakes  people  are 
akin  to  the  Te-quoe-di  of  Taku,  and  therefore 
they  also  claim  the  following  legend  as  their 
own  : 

A  hunter  was  captured  by  a  grizzly  bear,  which 
took  him  and  threw  him  into  his  den.  The  she- 
bear,  instead  of  destroying  him,  concealed  him, 
and,  when  the  grizzly  came  around,  denied  that 
the  hunter  was  ever  thrown  into  the  cave.  The 


TOTEM  LORE  OP  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


27 


male  grizzly  went  away,  never  to  return.  The 
hunter  then  married  the  bear  and  had  children 
by  her,  though  he  already  had  a  wife  and  chil 
dren  living  in  the  village.  He  hunted  for  his 
bear  wife  and  children.  Finally  he  had  a  long 
ing  to  return  to  his  home  and  the  bear  gave  him 
permission,  but  warned  him  not  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  his  wife.  When  he  reached  the  vil 
lage,  his  wife  reproached  him  for  leaving  her 
alone  for  so  long  a  time,  to  provide  for  all  his 
little  children. 

He  began  to  hunt  for  them.     He  brought  seals 


and  other  food  and  fish  for  them.  The  bear 
heard  of  this  and  became  very  jealous,  and  the 
next  time  the  hunter  was  found  in  the  woods  she 
directed  her  cubs  to  fall  on  him  and  kill  him,  and 
they  did. 

Note : — The  Shakes  people  also  claim  the  head 
of  mountain  goat  as  their  coat  of  arms.  Once 
a  mighty  goat  hunter  was  led  up  a  mountain  by  a 
goat  that  he  was  chasing  right  into  the  cave 
where  the  goats  were  assembled  in  council.  He 
was  there  taught  by  the  king  of  the  goats  not  to 
kill  so  many  goats,  because  they  were  brothers. 


The  Ko-na-ka-det 


HERE  was  a  man  married  to  a  high 
caste  girl  in  another  town.  The 
man  proved  himself  to  be  a  great 

gambler.  This  gave  him  a  very  bad 
reputation.  His  mother-in-law  call- 


had  heard  of  a  monster  that  was  back  of 
the  lake,  and  he  took  stone  axes,  split  open 
a  tree  and  made  a  dead  fall  trap  and  with 
it  killed  the  monster,  and  then  crawled  into  its 
skin. 


SHAKES'  GRAVE  TOTEMS 

These  totems  mark  the  place  where  the  uncle  of  the  present  chief  was  buried.    Titles 
always  went  to  the  sister's  son. 


cd  him  a  worthless  fellow,"  and  finally,  for 
the  sake  of  peace,  he  built  himself  a  hut  near 
a  lake,  back  of  the  village.  (Chief  Shakes 
locates  this  lake  as  the  one  back  of  old 
Wrangell,  but  the  legend  probably  came  from 
a  place  much  father  north.)  The  young  man 


To  his  surprise  he  found  now  that  he  could 
swim  about  in  the  water  like  a  fish.  In  the 
daytime  he  would  do  this  and  then  when  night 
came  he  would  return  home.  He  told  his  wife 
all  about  it  and  charged  her  not  to  tell  his 
mother-in-law  anything  about  his  adventures. 


28 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


Famine  once  took  the  village.  The  young 
man,  in  the  skin  of  the  monster,  caught  a  salmon 
and  left  it  next  morning  by  his  mother-in-law's 
house.  She  brought  it  in.  in  great  glee,  and 
claimed  all  the  credit  for  having  secured  it.  The 
next  day  the  mother-in-law  brought  in  two  sal 
mon,  and  then  a  halibut.  All  the  time  she  claim 
ed  that  she  had,  brought  the  fish.  The  next  night 
the  young  man  told  his  wife  that  lie  was  going 


morning  she  heard  the  ravens  call  before  he 
returned.  She  began  to  cry  and  her  friends 
asked  her  why  she  was  crying  and  she  replied 
that  she  knew  that  her  husband  was  dead,  be 
cause  the  ravens  had  called.  They  all  went  to 
the  door  then  and  saw  on  the  beach  two  whales 
and  the  monster  between,. them,  dead.  The  young 
man  had  attempted  more  than  be  was  able  to  per 
form.  The  load  bad  delaved  him  so  that  he 


SHAKES'   COLLECTION   OF   CURIOS 

A — Kon-na-ka-det. 

B— The  grizzly  bear  head.  This  is  the  most  ancient  curio,  and  is  most  frequen  ly 
spoken  of  in  guide  books.  It  was  used  as  a  mask  in  the  dances,  and  has  been  actually 
worn  by  one  appointed  to  kill  slaves  at  potlatches.  The  ears  of  the  head  are  tipped  with 
native  copper. 

C— Is  the  dancing  costume  representing  the  woman  who  was  married  to  a  grizzly  bear. 

D— Is  a  whale  diving  Chilkat  blanket. 

F  and  H— Corner  posts  of  the  house.  They  are  dog-fish  totems  and  so  the  house  is 
named  the  dog-fish  house.  These  totems  were  brought  up  from  old  Wrangell  in  about  the 
year  1832.  They  were,  in  old  Wrangell,  originally  erected  ovsr  the  bodies  of  slaves  buried 
alive. 

I— Illustrates  the  propensity  a  family  had  (o  add  new  symbols  to  its  coat  of  arms.  The 
first  time  an  ox  was  seen,  a  hat  representing  an  ox  head  was  made. 

Most  of  the  other  curios  are  whale  killer  dancing  hats. 

Shakes  himself  is  sitting  among  his  curios.  He  is  the  nephew  of  the  one  buried  at  old 
Shakes'  grave. 


to  get  a  large  whale,  and,  sure  enough,  the  next 
morning  he  brought  in  the  whale.  The  mother- 
in-law  found  it  and  claimed  all  the  honor  for  the 
whale,  just  as  she  had  claimed  the  honor  for 
having  caught  the  fish.  She  asked  to  be  honored 
as  a  great  shaman  and  the  people  granted  her 
wish.  The  young  man  and  his  wife  laughed  all 
the  more  at  her  arrogance. 

He  had  told  his  wife  that  he  must  always  get 
home  before  the  ravens  called.  If  he  did  not 
CO-TIC,  she  might  know  that  he  was  dead,  One 


could  not  get  back  by  the  time  the  ravens  called. 
They  found  the  young  man  in  the  skin  of  the 
monster.  The  people  were  surprised  and  sup 
posed  that  he  had  been  captured  by  the  monster. 
Therefore  they  called  him  "Konakadet."  They 
took  the  body  of  the  young  man  and  placed  it  in 
a  tree  near  the  lake  back  of  the  village,  and 
every  evening  the  daughter  went  there  to  weep. 
One  night  she  saw  a  ripple  on  the  water  and 
heard  the  voice  of  her  husband  calling  to  her, 
"Get  on  my  back  and  hold  on  tight."  She  did 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


29 


so,  and  they  went  to  the  Konakadet's  former 
home.  This  is  the  reason  why  it  is  considered 
good  luck  if  one  has  seen  the  Konakadet,  and  his 
wife  and  wife's  children,  the  ''Daughters  of  the 
Creek,"  also  bring  good  luck. 

There  are  several  other  stories  of  the  Kona 
kadet.  There  is  one  of  how  a  chief's  canoe  was 
overturned  and  all  his  nephews  were  swallowed 
up  and  he  only  escaped.  The  townspeople  were 
much  aroused  thereby  and  called  for  vengeance. 
The  chief  for  a  long  time  kept  silent  and  finally 
said :  "My  children,  have  patience.  I  believe 
it  was  the  Konakadet  that  overturned  my  canoe. 
Let  us  invite  him  to  a  great  feast  and  treat  him 
kindly  and  possibly  he  will  bring  back  my  sister's 
children."  They  all  agreed,  and  one  of  the  brav 
est  of  the  youths  went  out  to  where  the  canoe 


was  overturned  and  cried  out:  "Ye  Konakadet, 
I  call  you  to  a  feast."  The  water  was  disturbed 
as  before  and  the  Konakadet  made  known  that 
he  would  accept  the  invitation. 

The  feast  was  held  and  the  Konakadet  restored 
the  children. 

The  Shu-stack  family  have  a  like  tradition 
about  a  canoe  having  been  overturned,  but  good 
luck  followed  as  a  consequence. 

The  dancing  hat  with  sea  lion  bristles  came 
from  the  Konakadet. 

The  left-hand  totem  in  front  of  Shakes'  house 
is  that  of  the  Konakadet.  The  dancing  hat  in 
the  center  of  the  collection  of  Shakes'  curios 
showing  a  man  in  the  monster's  skin  is  also  that 
of  the  Konakadet.  This,  unfortunately,  was  des 
troyed  by  fire|  a  few  years  ago. 


Kadashan,  His  Totems  and  Legends 
of  His  Totems 


HIEF  KADASHAN  is  the  greatest 
living  Indian  orator.  He  is  the 
great  Indian  authority  on  Indian 
lore.  More  than  a  third  of  the  ma 
terial  that  Dr.  Swanton  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institute  secured  for  his  report  on 
the  Thlinget  Indians  was  secured  from  him. 

While    Kadashan    has    been    by    no    means    al 
ways    consistent,    his    sympathies    are    decidedly 


Christian.  One  time  in  a  speech  he  said :  "I  see 
the  difference  between  God's  law  and  man's  law. 
In  the  olden  days,  had  we  captured  a  people  we 
would  have  made  slaves  of  them.  The  white 
man  rules  over  us.  Instead  of  making  slaves  of 
us,  he  gives  us  a  chance  to  earn  our  living.  Our 
liberty  is  not  taken  away." 

Much  of  the  material  in  this  book  was  furnish 
ed  by  him. 


The  Thlinget 

L  was  born  at  Sitka.  His  father's 
house  stood  near  the  Indian  River. 
His  father  was  Lakigina,  noted  for 
his  cruelty  and  hatred  of  all  human 
kind.  Even  the  children  of  Lakigina 
did  not  escape  his  thirst  for  blood,  so  strong  was 
the  wolf  instinct  which  ran  through  his  viens. 
His  grandmother  was  a  wolf  and  on  his  father's 
side  his  ancestry  went  back  to  the  fire  spirit. 

Lakigina  had  received  from  his  grandfather 
a  coat  that  was  made  from  the  skin  of  a  red  cod. 
When  worn  the  coat  was  so  arranged  that  the 
fins  made  a  row  of  teeth  which,  like  a  saw,  ran  up 
and  down  the  breast.  Lakigina's  way  of  dispos 
ing  of  his  children  was  to  begin  to  fondle  them 
and  then  saw  them  to  death  by  the  saw  on  the 
breast  of  his  red  coat.  One  after  another  was 
finally  put  to  death.  At  last  the  mother  became 
very  despondent  on  account  of  the  loss  of  her 


Hero,  Kayak 


children.  Then  it  was  that  the  fire  spirit  came 
to  her  and  said  :  "Have  good  cheer.  I  will  fur 
nish  you  a  way  whereby  you  may  save  your  chil 
dren.  When  your  husband  draws  near,  take 
ashes  from  the  fire  and  throw  on  them  and  they 
will  appear  like  puppies' playing,  and  then  he  will 
think  that  they  are  puppies  and  let  them  live. 
When  he  goes  out,  sweep  the  ashes  off  from  them 
and  they  will  become  children  again." 

So  it  was  that  the  mother  was  enabled  to 
preserve  the  lives  of  three  of  her  children,  Kayak, 
Kettle  and  their  sister.  Kayak,  when  he  became 
of  age,  slew  his  father  because  his  father  had 
killed  so  many  of  his  brothers.  After  this  Kayak, 
at  the  instigation  of  his  sister,  slew  a  monster 
that  was  troubling  Sitka  Bay.  This,  however, 
disturbed  some  strange  force.  An  Indian  doctor 
came  to  Kayah  and  revealed  to  him  that  he  would 
die  should  his  sister  ever  look  upon  him.  So,  after 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


that,  when  his  sister  traveled  with  the  two  boys, 
she  wore  a  bonnet  so  that  she  could  not  look  up. 
A  long  time  afterward,  by  chance,  the  sister  did 
look  at  them  and  the  two  boys  were  actually  turn 
ed  into  stone.  This  established  the  rule  among  the 
Thlingets  that  it  was  a  great  breach  of  etiquette 
for  a  woman  to  even  look  at  men  of  the  same 


tain  spirits  they  could  render  themselves  in 
visible.  They  saw  the  fisherman  who  was  some 
thing  like  an  eagle,  except  that  he  only  had  one 
leg.  He  came  down  to  the  water's  edge  and 
with  his  charmed  spear  secured  the  salmon,  and 
then  would  sail  up  a  creek  to  a  cave  of  a  grizzly 
bear. 


CHIEF    KADASHAN 


family.  This  was  s<>  much  so  that  one  could  al 
ways  tell  that,  when  a  woman  did  not  look  at  a 
man,  they  were  of  the  same  family. 

To  return  to  our  theme.  Kayak's  father  had 
had  a  charmed  halibut  hook,  and  he  heard  of  a 
fisherman  up  Yack-a-tat  way  who  had  a  charmed 
salmon  spear,  and  he  wanted  it.  So  he  and  his 
brother  went  to  Yack-a-tat.  By  the  help  of  cer- 


Thc  coat  that  tlu-  fisherman  wore  had  on  it  two 
bear  heads,  and  when  he  came  to  the  cave  one  of 
these  heads  pulled  off  a  salmon  from  the  string 
of  salmon  that  the  fisherman  carried  and  threw 
it  to  the  male  grizzly,  and  the  other  head  pulled 
off  a  salmon  and  threw  it  to  the  female  grizzly  ; 
so  continued  until  all  the  salmon  was  given  to  the 
bears.  The  one-legged  fisherman  was  married 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


31 


to  the  daughter  of  the  grizzly  bear.     The  next 
day  Kayak  secured  a  fine  silver  salmon  and,  hav 
ing  clothed  himself  in  the  skin  of  the  monster, 
took  to  the  water. 
When   the   fisherman   threw   his    spear    Kayak 


Kayak  then  disguised  himself  in  the  skin 
of  the  fisherman,  caught  a  string  of  fish 
and  went  up  the  stream  to  feed  the  grizzly 
bear.  The  she-bear  suspected  that  Kayak  was 
not  the  real  fisherman  and  fell  on  him,  but 


grabbed  it  and  cut  the  string  and  so  secured  the      Kayak     was     too     strong.     He     slew     the     bear 


THE  ONE-LEGGED  FISHERMAN  THAT  WAS  KILLED  BY  KAYAK 
The  fisherman  has  a  bear  coat  and  is  carrying  a  string  of  salmon 


spear.  The  fisherman  looked  for  the  spear  that 
day  but  could  not  find  it.  The  next  day  he  came 
to  look  again,  and  this  time  the  wind  was  so  that 
he  smelled  Kayak  hidden  in  a  tree.  He  cried  out 
to  Kayak,  "Come  down,  or  I  will  kill  you.  I 
want  my  salmon  spear."  Kayak  then  came  down 
and  he  and  the  fisherman  fought.  Kayak  pre 
vailed  and  the  fisherman  was  slain. 


family  and  went  out  for  more  adventures. 
The  history  of  this  part  of  the  legend  is  pre 
served  in  only  two  totems  in  Alaska.  One  totem 
is  standing  in  old  Wrangell,  a  site  twenty  miles 
south  of  the  present  Wrangell.  There  is  a  fisher 
man  with  a  coat  having  two  heads  and  carrying 
a  string  of  salmon.  The  other  totem  is  in  the 
present  Wrangell  cemetery.  This  is  a  copy  of 


32 


TOTEM  LORE  OP  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


the    one    at    old    Wrangell,    except    there    is    one 
head  on  the  coat  instead  of  two. 

Kayak  now  left  Yackatat  for  new  adventures. 
One  day  he  chased  the  game  with  such  po\ver 
that  he  overpowered  the  force  of  gravity  and  ran 
up  into  the  sky.  He  would  have  remained  there 
had  not  an  Indian  doctor  who  had  the  help  of  the 
spirit  of  two  or  three  birds  gone  up  and  brought 
him  down.  There  are  certain  fleecy  clouds  that 
are  called  the  tracks  of  Kayak  even  to  this  day. 
To  commemorate  this  event,  the  family  that 
claims  Kayak  as  its  hero  has  a  carved  image  of  a 
bird  on  one  of  its  dancing  hats. 


ran  and  overtook  the  swiftest  arrow  that  they 
could  shoot.  Kayak  then  secured  the  sinew  of  a 
bird  and  with  it  snared  the  monster. 

This  event  is  commemorated  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  beaver  totem  at  Wrangell,  Alaska. 

Kayak  next  came  to  the  Stikine  River,  ascend 
ed  and  lived  for  some  time  among  the  Taltan 
Indians.  Up  to  this  time  the  Indians  had  made 
their  traps  in  the  usual  way.  They  had  not  rea 
lized  that  they  would  catch  game  much  more 
easily  if  they  put  certain  carvings  on  them. 
Kayak  told  them  how  to  put  certain  carvings  on 
them  so  that  they  would  prove  much  more  at- 


THE  REMAINS  OF  KAYAK  AND  HIS  BROTHER 


Kayak  next  appears  at  Icy  Hay.  There  was  a 
monster  there  that  he  wanted  to  kill.  At  tin- 
head  of  the  bay,  <>n  an  island,  there  was  an  old 
house  and  in  the  house  there  lived  a  little  old 
woman  who  bore  the  na  ve  "Little  Old  woman 
Who  Knew  Hverything."  Kayak  approached  her 
and  said:  "Little  Old  Woman  Who  Knows 
Everything,  1  want  your  canoe;  1  wish  to  go  out 
and  kill  a  monster  that  is  back  of  your  house." 
The  little  old  woman  replied  :  "My  son,  the 
canoe  is  back  of  this  house.  Go  and  get  it." 
Kayak  went  back  of  the  house  and  found  there 
what  appeared  to  be  an  old.  rotten  canoe,  all 
covered  with  moss  and  good  for  nothing.  He 
picked  up  the  canoe  and  immediately  it  became  a 
beautifully  carved  piece  of  work.  When  he  and 
his  brother  put  it  into  the  water,  the  canoe  out- 


tractive  to  game.    So  it  was  that  they  could  catch 
game  easily.     Their  traps  now  were  charmed. 

But,  unfortunately,  heroes  have  to  die,  and 
Kayak  and  his  brother  proved  no  exception  to 
the  rule.  It  was  a  time  in  which  the  waters  ot 
the  Stikine  were  very  low,  and  these  two  brothers 
undertook  to  wade  across.  The  current  was 
swift.  Curiosity  and  fear  proved  too  strong  for 
their  sister.  She  raised  her  head  and  looked  at 
them.  They  immediately,  sad  to  relate,  were 
turned  into  stone,  and  these  rocks  can  be  seen  in 
the  river  even  to  this  day.  One  of  the  brothers 
had  a  pack  on  his  back  which  contained  rock 
from  which  Indians  make  paint  and  this  paint 
material  can  still  be  found  on  one  of  these  rocks. 
All  of  which  goes  to  prove  the  truthfulness  of  this 
legend. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


33 


The  Eagle  Legend-  -Tsimpsian 

(This  Kagle  is  on  the    Kadashan  Totems.) 


In  the  days  when  the  Thlingets  lived  on  the 
Nass  River,  a  chief  had  a  nephew  who  was  very 
impractical.  Instead  of  drying  salmon  for  the 
winter  he  would  kill  them  and  leave  them  on  the 
beach  for  the  eagles  to  eat.  The  uncle  soon  lost 
patience  with  such  a  foolish  boy  and  he  decided 
to  leave  him  behind  when  the  rest  of  the  tribe 
went  up  the  Nass  River  for  their  summer's  fish 
ing.  They  gave  him  no  food  and  consequently 
it  was  expected  that  he  would  starve  to  death. 

While  the  tribe  was  at  the  different  salmon 
streams  along  the  Nass  River,  the  fish  did  not 
come  as  was'  expected  and  times  began  to  be  very 
hard.  If  it  had  not  been  for  roots  and  berries  there 
would  have  been  a  famine.  The  chief  imagined 
that  his  nephew  was  sharing  in  the  same  mis 
fortune  that  they  were,  and  therefore  thought 
that  he  had  died  of  starvation.  It  was  a  very 
pious  thing  to  take  care  of  the  dead.  What  was 
done  for  the  dead  body  determined  its  place  in 
the  next  world,  so  the  chief  sent  two  of  his  men 
to  perform  the  funeral  rites.  When  they  reached 
the  village  they  found  the  boy  very  much  alive. 
He  had  his  house  stored  full  of  dried  fish,  and 
this  was  how  it  happened  : 

The  first  night  in  which  he  was  left  alone  he 
heard  a  rapping  on  the  door.  He  opened  it  and 
by  the  door  lay  a  huge  salmon.  An  eagle  had 
let;  it  there.  This  was  continued  every  night 


until  a  bountiful  supply  of  fish  was  secured. 

The  boy  fed  the  men  and  gave  them  some  fish 
to  take  back,  but  charged  them  strictly  not  to 
tell  his  uncle  about  him.  The  men  agreed.  On 
their  return  they  gave  some  fish  to  a  little  girl. 
She  was  so  ravenously  hungry  that  she  tried  to 
swallow  to  large  a  piece  and  it  choked  her. 
Someone  pulled  it  out  of  her  mouth  and  it  was 
discovered  that  there  was  fish  in  camp.  This 
caused  the  chief  to  summon  the  men  and  to  make 
them  tell  where  they  got  the  fish.  The  two  men 
told  them  about  the  nephew  and  the  house  full 
of  fish.  The  chief  decided  to  take  the  whole 
tribe  back  to  the  village  if  perchance  his  nephew 
might  feed  them  and  save  the  lives  of  his  people. 
They  got  into  the  large  canoe  and  sailed  down 
the  river.  The  chief  placed  his  daughter,  dressed 
in  her  best  blankets,  in  front.  When  the  big 
canoe  approached  the  village  the  nephew  stood 
with  his  bow  and  arrow  ready  to  shoot,  but  when 
he  saw  the  chief's  daughter  he  relented  and  fed 
the  tribe.  He  afterwards  married  her  and  lived 
a  happy  life. 

The  family  that  has  the  eagle  crest  must  not 
be  confused  with  the  family  from  the  north  who 
call  themselves  Eagles  and  have  a  kind  of  eagle 
for  their  crest.  This  family  has  for  ks  lengend 
that  of  the  one-legged  fisherman  referred  to  in 
the  Kayak  legend. 


The  Legend  of  the  Crane 


HE    legend    of    the    crane    must    be 


classed  as  one  of  the  very  primitive 
stories.  It  goes  back  to  the  time 
when  a  man  left  his  own  home  to 
live  in  the  home  of  his  wife. 
A  young  man  was  out  hunting,  and  in  the 
woods  he  came  across  a  beautiful  girl  with  whom 
he  fell  in  love.  The  two  were  married  and  he 
went  to  live  with  his  wife's  parents.  He  discov 
ered  as  he  hunted  for  them  and  brought  home 
game,  that  they  would  not  eat  of  it.  He  asked 
her  why  this  was.  For  a  long  time  she  would  not 
tell  him.  One  day  he  was  out  hunting  and  in 
putting  down  his  spear  to  leap  across  a  stream  he 
noticed  that  he  struck  something  soft,  but  he  paid 
little  attention  to  it.  He  came  home  and  stood 
the  spear  by  the  side  of  the  wall.  His  wifes 
parents  soon  came  in  and  they  said,  "We  smell 
frogs.  1  wish  that  we  had  some."  He  said  to 


his  wife:  "What  do  they  mean?"  She  replied: 
"Our  people  belong  to  the  crane  people  and  we 
specially  like  frogs  and  they  think  that  they  smell 
the  blood  of  a  frog  upon  your  spear."  The  young, 
man  then  remembered  the  place  where  he  had 
leaped  across  the  stream,  and  he  concluded  thai 
he  must  have  stuck  his  spear  into  a  gigan'ic 
frog.  He  went  out,  determined  to  get  it.  He 
came  to  the  place  and  began  to  dig  and  worked 
until  the  frog  was  dug  out.  He  took  it  home  and 
presented  it  to  his  wife's  parents.  They  were 
very  glad  when  they  received  it  and  immediately 
made  preparations  to  give  a  great  feast.  A  great 
number  of  guests  were  invited,  and  the  parents 
received  a  great  name  in  consequence  of  this. 
They,  in  their  gratitude,  gave  him,  in  return, 
shoes  made  out  of  grindstone  rock.  With  these 
shoes  he  could  outrun  the  fastest  game  and  when 
a  monster  was  pursuing  him  he  could  throw  them 


TOTEM  LORE  Oh'  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


at  it  and  they  would  become  high  mountains  to 
protect  him  from  it.  This  hunter  became  a  great 
man  among  his  people. 

The     event     is     commemorated     by     the     third 
figure  from  the  top  on  the  smaller  of  the  Kada- 


The  mother  of  the  young  raven  Hi-yi-shou-a- 
gu  was  much  persecuted  by  the  brothers.  In  her 
despair,  she  went  to  the  crane  for  advice. 

He  told  her  to  swallow  four  small  stones,  and 


THE   KADASHAN  TOTEMS 


shan  totems,  and  on  the  second  figure  from  the 
top  on  the  Goon-yu  totem  now  on  exhibition  by 
the  side  of  Mathcson's  store  at  Wrangcll. 

There  is  perhaps  a   still   more  primitive  crane 
legend. 


she  would  have  a  child  that  would  defend  her, 
and  do  wonderful  things  for  the  world. 

She  did  so,  and  the  young  raven  was  born. 

Note  : — Notice  how  often  "the  figure  four"  ap 
pears  in  the  legends. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


The  Kadashan  Totems 


HESE  totems  are  very  old.  The 
time  of  their  erection  dates  back  to 
soon  after  the  days  of  the  Russian 
occupation.  The  right-hand  one  is 
surmounted  by  the  figure  of  a  man. 
This  represents  the  Creator.  In  all  the  older 
poles  he  is  represented  as  a  man,  while  in  the 
modern  he  is  represented  as  a  Raven. 

Below  is  the  carving  of  a  Raven  with  a  man 
between  its  wings.  This  is  the  grandson  that 
made  man. 

Below  is  La-kig-i-na,  the  father  of  Kayak. 
Kadashan  describes  him  as  "all  same  devil." 
His  career  and  character  are  described  in  the 
Kayak  legend.  He  wore  a  coat  made  from  the 
skin  of  a  red  codfish.  The  fins  were  so  placed 
that  they  ran  up  and  down  the  breast,  making  a 


saw,  and  when  he  killed  people  he  would  rip  them 
open  by  means  of  this  saw. 

Below  him  is  the  spirit  of  La-kig-i-na.  The 
lowest  figure  of  all  is  the  thunder  bird.  He 
lives  on  mountains,  has  a  lake  on  his  back,  and 
when  he  gets  uneasy  he  spills  some  of  the  water 
and  this  causes  the  rain.  Kadashan  declares 
that  the  thunder  bird  has  been  seen  by  men  and 
gives  instances. 

The  left-hand  totem  is  surmounted  by  the  eagle, 
the  crest  of  the  Kad-a-shan  family.  This  is  the 
eagle  of  the  Tsimpsians,  and  not  the  one  be 
longing  to  the  tribe  that  formerly  centered  around 
the  Taku  River,  and  has  the  wolf  as  the  coat  of 
arms  of  its  phratry. 

Below  is  the  Konakadet.  Below  is  the  crane, 
and  the  lowest  figure  of  all  is  the  Konakadet  put 
in  to  make  the  pole  higher. 


The  Legend  of  the  Koosh-ta-ka 


Any  unusual  calamity  was  ascribed  to  them. 
Near  Catalla  there  is  a  lake  that  has  an  oil  well 
in  it.  Sometimes  the  lake  freezes  over  and  the 


The  seat  of  the  following  legend  is  placed  on 
the  west  coast  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island, 
not  far  from  Klawock.  Some  of  the  more  edu- 


LEGEND    OF    THE    KOOSH-TA-KA 

The  crested  waves  tossed  high  the  big  canoe.    They  bumped  it  up 
against  the  pointed  rock. 


upward  pressure  of  the  oil  cracks  the  ice.     This 
is  charged  to  the  Koosh-ta-ka. 

The  Koosh-ta-ka  are  the  bogy  men  of  the  Thlin- 
get  people.  Their  existence  was  firmly  believed  in. 


cated  of  the  Indians  who  are  familiar  with  the 

different    Koosh-ta-ka    legends   explain  them   by 

supposing    that    at    one    time    monkeys  lived    in 
Alaska. 


36 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


Some  boys  had  filled  their  big  canoe  with  fish; 

The  autumns  sun  was  settling  in  the  east ; 
They  laughed  and  joked  for  all  that  heart  could 

wish 

Had   come   to   them.     They   played   most   mer 
rily. 

But  as  they  talked,  a  boy  looked  up  and  said, 
"Oh,   look,   the   falling  mist   and   slanting   rays 

Of  sunlight  fill  the  sky  with  fiery  red." 

The   laughter   ceased ;   the   boys   were   sore 
amazed. 

Trembling,  the  oldest  boy  exclaimed,  "We'll  make 
A  fire  to  warm  ourselves  and  cook  our  fish, 

And  then  our  homeward  way  we'll  take ; 

Some  strange  power  stoppeth  here,  T  know  not 
what." 

One  took  the  cedar  dry  and  fire  drill,  too. 

And  then  unloosed  the  string  upon  the  bow 
And  made  a  loop  and  put  the  fire  drill  through, 

And  others  gathered  wood  to  build  the  fire. 

They  held  the  drill  erect  and  pressed  it  close 
Against  the  cedar  dry,  and  with  the  bow 

They  made  the  drill  revolve.     A  fire  arose, 
And  then  upon  the  wood   it  mounted  high. 

The  fish  was  cooked  and  all  began  to  eat ; 

Just  then  a  frog,  a  slimy  speckled  frog, 
Jumped  down  between  the  boys  and  took  a  seat, 

As  if  to  say,  "I'll  be  a  fellow  here." 

Hut,  oh,  the  ills  a  thoughtless  thought  can  do! 

"A  fellow  here,"  said  one,  "you  saucy  frog — 
The  fire  is  much  the  better  place  for  you." 

And  so,  he  fire  ward  tossed  the  saucy  frog. 

The  frog,  as  would  a  bird,  did  turn  aside; 

It  glided  down  to  earth   and   disappeared. 
"A  miracle,  an  omen  bad  !"  they  cried ; 
"We'll  haste  away  perchance  our  lives  to  save." 

Quickly   each   boy  then   sought  in  their  canoe 
His  place,  and  took   his   paddle,  and  just   like 

An  arrow  shot  from  cross-bow  strong  and  true, 
Their  hurrying  canoe  did   speed   along. 

The  frog  rushed  up  the  mountain  side  and  cried, 
"Ye  spirits  of  the  rocks,  1  ask  your  aid; 
With  mighty  power  rush  down  the  mountain  side 
And    make    the    waves    that    shall    destroy    those 
boys." 


The  Koosh-ta-ka  agreed.     The  boys  worked  on, 
Not  deeming  danger  nigh.     They  paddled  hard, 

Hoping  before  the  tide  should  backward  run 
To  pass  the  hidden  rocks  of  Koosh-ta-ka. 

Just  then  ahead,  between  the  hills  devide, 
With  sentry  cloudlets  rushing  in  before, 

An  awesome,  whirling,  rushing  cloud  was  spied  ; 
The  boys  by  ashen  fear  were  paralyzed. 

The  crested  waves  tossed  high  the  big  canoe ; 

They  bumped  it  up  against  the  pointed  rock, 
Which    crushed    the   helpless    boat,    and    quickly 
threw 

The  boys  into  the  sea.     They  cried  for  help. 

To-si-la-gut,  half-man,  half-otter,  heard 

Their  cry  and  summoned  all  the  Koosh-ta-ka 

And  made  a  rousing  speech,  and  spoke  the  word, 
"Arise,  ye  Koosh-ta-ka,  and  rescue  them." 

He  pointed  toward  the  boys.     Then  suddenly 
The  Koosh-ta-ka  with  one  accord  arose; 

Breasting  the  waves  they  plunged   into  the   sea 
And  brought  the  boys  to  live  among  the  rocks. 

That  night,  the  mothers  in  the  village  near 
Went  to  the  water's  side  to  meet  their  boys; 

And  so  they  did  for  many  nights  till  fear 

Did  grip  them  hard.     "Where  are  our  boys?" 
they  cried. 

Weeping,  they  sought  Kashutz,  the  doctor  wise, 

And  bringing  gifts,  they  said,  "Oh,  find  for  us 

Our    boys."     The    seer    responded :     "Dry    your 

eyes, 

And   keep   your   gifts.     I'll    find    for   you    your 
sons." 

The  doctor  then  began  to  dance  and  clap 

His  hands.     He  sang  a  song  with  words  from 
some 

Forgotten  tongue.     He  then  began  to  rap 
Upon  the  floor.     His  eyes  were  fixed  above. 

A  rattle  of  mysterious  design 
He  shook  most  violently.     Faster  grew 

His  movements.     Louder  rose  his  voice — a  sign 
Of  some  unearthly,  ghostly  spirit  power. 

The  mothers,   all   like   statue*,  crouched   around 
Their   cheeks    were   colorless ;    with    eyes   out 
stretched 

And  ears  erect,  they  listened  for  each  sound. 
The  seer  fell  down,  as  one  would  fall  that's 
dead. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


37 


The  woman  knew  the  reason  of  it  all — 
The  seer  had  left  his  body  lying  there 

To  travel  forth  to  seek,  to  find,  and  call 
Their  sons,  as  men  are  called  when  feats  are 
made. 

The  moments   stretched   like  hours   to  each   one 

there ; 
At     length     Kashutz     awoke     and     said,     "My 

friends, 
I've  been  far  away,  have  journeyed  through  the 

air; 
I  do  not  find  your  sons  among  the  stars. 

I'll  search  again."  And  so  once  more  he  fell 
Asleep.  This  time,  he  said  that  he  had  asked 

The  ferryman  who  rules  the  Styx  to  tell. 

He  found  the  boys  were  not  among  the  dead. 

Kashutz,  the  doctor  wise,  then  fell  asleep — 

The  sleep,  how  different,  not  peaceful  now ; 
He    writhed,    he    groaned,    then    upward    he    did 

leap, 
And  spoke,  "My  sisters,  now  I  know  the  truth." 

"The  evil  Koosh-ta-ka  stirred  up  the  storm 
Which    wrecked    the   big   canoe.    To-si-la-gut, 

Once  man,  now  otter,  summoned  then  a  swam 
Of  Koosh-ta-ka — 'Be  quick  and  save,'  he  urged. 

"To  him  the  evil  Koosh-ta-ka  gave  heed, 

And  brought  the  boys  to  live  among  the  rocks ;" 
Some    fainted ;    anguish    reigned ;    all    cried    "A 

deed 

Most    horrible !     Woe !     Woe !     Our    sons    are 
lost !" 

Quickly  from  lip  to  lip  the  words  were  passed, 
"The  boys  are  prisoners  among  the  rocks, 

Held  there  by  Koosh-ta-ka."  From  first  to  last 
In  awe-struck  tones,  each  told  this  awful  tale. 

A  council  then  was  called.     Kashutz  the  wise, 
The  chief  and  all  the  village  men  were  there; 

Then  spoke  the  chief,  "My  friends,  we  must 

devise 
Some  way  to  kill  these  dreaded  Koosh-ta-ka. 

"We  know  now  who  have  been  our  enemies ; 
We   know   now    where   our   sisters'    sons   have 

gone; 
The  question   is :     'How   may   we  actch   the 

thieves?' 

Speak    up,    my    men;    we    want    your    counsel 
shrewd." 


Then  spoke  Kiashutz  the  wise,  "You  cannot  kill 
The  otter  men  by  ordinary  means ; 

You'll  never  get  the  Koosh-ta-ka  until 
You  smear  their  rocks  with  pitch  and  burn  the 
pitch." 

Immediately,  like  one  man  they  rushed 
For  their  canoes,  took  off  their  coverings, 

Loaded  them  with  all  needful  things  and  pushed 
Them  out  upon  the  sea  and  paddled  away. 

They  sought  the  forest  where  the  pitch  is  found ; 

They  soon  arrived  and  quickly  went  to  work 
To  get  the  pitch.  The  forest  did  resound 

With  stroke  of  axe,  and  noise  of  men  at  work. 

With  pitch  the  great  canoes  were  quickly  filled 
And   then   as   quick   as   arrows   fly,   they   sped 

to  where  the  otter  live,  and  then  they  spilled 
The  pitch  upon  the  rocks ;  they  made  a  fire. 

Great   clouds   of  densest   smoke   ascended   high ; 

Umbrella  like,  the  smoke  spread  out,  and  so 
It  with  its  awful  blackness  filled  the  sky ; 

The  heat  was  most  intense  and  burned  the 
rocks. 

Some  of  the  evil  Koosh-ta-ka  were  burned ; 

Others  escaped.  The  children  were  destroyed ; 
The  braves,  with  joy.  not  knowing,  homeward 
turned — 

They  thought  the  Koosh-ta-ka  were  all.  de 
stroyed. 

Next  day  some  men-  went  hunting  and  they  found 
A  large  white  otter  and  they  captured   it, 

And  gave  it  to  Kashutz,  who  did  impound 
It  with  his  charms.     It  was  the  otter  king. 

Next   day   a   large   gray   cloud   came  out  of  the 

east ; 
Singing  was   heard.     The  men   were  bound   as 

by  a  spell ; 
Their  eyes  could   see,  but  po-.ver  to   act  had 

ceased ; 

They    understood    the    song — ihese    were    the 

words  : 

"Your    drum's    too    loud. 
It    weaves   a   shroud ; 
We   want   our  king; 
For  this  we  sing." 

To-si-la-gut,  the  otter  man,  had  called 
The  otters,  saying  "Come  with  me  to  save 

Your  king.    He  is  by  spirit  power  enthralled." 
And  this  is  why  the  Koosh-ta-ka  had  come. 


38 


TOTEM  EOKE  Ol:  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


To-si-la-gut  had  charms  of  double  strength. 

And  easily  he  freed  the  otter  king; 
The    Koosh-ta-ka    did    celebrate.     At    length 

To-si-la-gut  with  all  the  others   left. 
Great  consternation  ruled  the  minds  of  all ; 

Their   spirit   enemies   were   not    destroyed ; 
They  did  not  know  what  evils  might  befall — 

The  king  had  spoken  roughly  to   Kashutz. 
Kashutz  had  nephews  four.     One  clay  a  voice 

Reached  one  of  these  from  out  the  wild,  which 

said  : 

"Oh,   sing  your   song  of  death ;   you   have   no 
choice — 

Death  claims  thee  as  its  own — prepare  to  die." 


The   nephew  bragged,   "I'll   cheat  these   spooks— 
I'm   strong;" 

But  then  a  feeling  strange  came  over  him; 
His  burdens  lightened  as  he  trudged   along, 

A  strange  exhilaration  lifted  him. 

He  felt  no  pain  ;  a  darkness  came  at  last, 
And  when  he  reached  his  nearest  brother  he 

There  fell  down  dead,  and  thus  away  he  passed. 
In  quick   succession  die  these  nephews   four. 

But.  here  this  tale  of  vengeance  dire  doth  end; 

Remembering  their  former  punishment, 
The  Koosh-ta-ka  from  haunts  of  men  did  wend 

Their  wav  to  live  as  monkevs,  far  awav. 


The  Chilkat  Blanket 


HILKAT 


the 


dern 


e    for 

the  blanket.  The  firsl  makers  of 
the  blanket  were  the  Tsimpsians, 
but  they  had  long  forgotten  the  art 
when  the  first  white  men  care  to 
this  countrv.  Then  the  Chilkat  Indians  were  the 


Kine."     The  word  n'eans  fringe  about  the  body. 

The  Thlingets  attribute  to  the  blanket  a  mythi 
cal  origin.  The  legend  of  the  blanket  is  as  fol 
lows  : 

In  the  days  before  the  Hood  animals  were  more 
like  men.  Thev  could  take  off  their  skins  as  if 


A  CHILKAT  BLANKET  BY  A  COFFIN 


chief    manufacturers.      This    explains     why    the 

when  men  gave  to  the  blanket  the  present  name. 

The   Thlinget   name   for   the   blanket    is   "Nar- 


they  were  blankets.  Then  some  women  went  out 
to  gather  some  wild  celery.  They  had  gathered 
what  they  desired  and  toward  evening  had  started 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


39 


for  home.  Among  them  was  the  daughter  of  a 
chief  who  slipped  into  the  footprints  of  a  black 
bear.  This  caused  her  to  abuse  the  bear  family 
in  general,  and,  stopping  to  readjust  her  pack, 
she  fell  behind  and  so  lost  sight  of  her  compan 
ions.  At  dusk  she  heard  a  footfall.  A  beautiful 
young  man  approached  her  and  whispered  soft 
words  in  her  ear.  He  asked  her  to  marry  him 
and  she  consented.  She  went  to  his  home  and 
there  she  found  out  that  he  was  a  grizzly  bear. 
Soon  after  she  made  her  escape  and  ran  to  the 
seashore,  saw  a  fisherman  in  a  canoe  and  asked 
to  be  rescued.  Before  he  would  rescue  her  he 


present  a  Chilkat  blanket,  and  the  Raven  gave 
the  blanket  to  mortals. 

The  material  of  the  Chilkat  blanket  is  goat's 
wool,  the  inner  part  of  the  bark  of  the  yellow 
cedar  and  sinew.  The  yellow  cedar  covered  with 
goat's  wool  is  the  warp;  goat's  wool  is  the  woof, 
and  the  ornamental  parts  are  sewed  on  with 
sinew. 

The  frame  upon  which  the  blanket  is  woven 
is  very  simple.  It  consists  of  two  uprights  of 
about  four  feet  high.  These  uprights  are  placed 
in  shoes  of  sufficient  weight  to  keep  them  erect, 
and  they  are  connected  at  the  top  by  a  baton 


FIGURE  II. 


made  her  promise  to  marry  him  and  she  con 
sented.  The  fisherman  proved  to  be  the  good 
spirit  of  the  sea,  the  Konakadet.  The  spirit, 
with  his  new  wife,  descended  to  the  spirit's 
house  under  the  sea.  He  told  her  that  he  was 
already  married  to  the  lynox,  but  that  he  ex 
pected  to  kill  the  lynx  because  she  was  so  cruel. 
He  put  his  new  wife  in  a  back  room  and  told 
her  that  she  should  not  be  frightened  at  anything 
she  saw.  One  day  she  looked  through  the  cracks 
and  she  saw  the  lynx  making  a  beautiful  blanket. 
She  watched  until  she  learned  how  it  was  made. 
Some  time  after  the  Konakadet  and  his  new  wife 
were  in  a  cave  and  were  there  visited  by  the 
Great  Raven.  They  danced  for  each  other  and 
exchanged  presents.  The  Raven  received  for  his 


about  six  feet  long.  Stretched  across  the  top  is 
a  narrow  piece  of  skin.  From  holes  at  regular 
intervals  in  the  skin,  warp  strings  the  right 
length  are  suspended,  and  then  these  warp  strings 
are  bound  together  by  the  woof. 

It  takes  the  wool  of  from  three  to  ten  moun 
tain  goats  to  make  a  blanket.  The  finer  blan 
kets  only  use  a  part  of  the  wool  of  each  goat. 
All  the  weaving  is  done  entirely  by  hand.  Dif 
ferent  color  fields  are  united  by  means  of  fine 
sinew  laid  alongside  of  the  outside  warp  strand, 
and  woven  into  the  selvage  of  that  section  by 
alternately  closing  it  within  the  twining  of  a  cer 
tain  number  of  woof  threads,  and  then  leaving  it 
free. 

The    general    weave    is    the    twilled    diagonal. 


40 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


It  is  called  Hee-kar-ree.  The  word  means  rough, 
or  uneven,  like  the  skin  on  the  back  of  the  frog. 
The  warp  of  the  blanket  is  never  colored.  The 
three  colors  used  for  the  woof  are  black,  yellow 
and  bluish  green.  The  coloring  of  the  wool  is 
accomplished  after  the  thread  is  spun,  and  for 
each  color  in  the  old  days,  the  woman  who  did 
the  work  would  fast  a  day,  which  was  supposed 
to  give  uniformity  of  color.  There  were  two 
ways  of  preparing  the  black  color.  One  was  a 
preparation  from  hemlock  bark  and  the  other  was 
from  a  black  mud  near  certain  springs  boiled 
with  the  hemlock  bark.  The  yellow  is  prepared 


in  the  Northwest.  The  central  part  of  the 
blanket  has  the  totemistic  figure.  The  eyes,  the 
nose,  the  mouth,  and  sometimes  the  feet,  occupy 
their  proper  place,  while  the  rest  of  the  body  is 
often  lost  sight  of.  Many  of  the  figures  at  the 
sides  have  little  or  no  meaning.  They  are  simply 
put  in  to  give  richness  in  color  effect.  The  eye, 
however,  when  placed  upon  an  object,  usually 
signifies  intelligence.  It  may  be  placed  on  the 
joints  of  an  animal,  and  a  face  may  be  placed  on 
the  forehead.  All  this  signifies  the  presence  of 
some  spiritual  power. 
The  weaving  is  always  clone  according  to  a 


FIGURE   III  IS   A   FEMALE   BEAR   WITH   CUBS,   OR   ACCORDING   TO   OTHER 
TRADITIONS  A   WHALE   DIVING   BLANKET 


from  a  lichen  known  as  seliony  moss.  This  moss 
is  found  on  spruce  and  hemlock  trees  growing 
in  very  wet  places  on  the  mainland.  The  blue- 
green  is  prepared  from  a  copper  ore.  There  is 
also  a  blue  claystone  which  produces  the  same 
shades.  The  native  colors  are  soft.  The  bright 
colors  are  not  characteristic  of  the  Thlinget  In 
dian,  as  is  sometimes  supposed. 

The  design  of  a  Chilkat  blanket  is  very  con 
ventional.  The  figures  are  similar  to  those 
found  on  their  carved  boxes,  on  their  masks 
and  on  the  great  doors  which  they  were  ac 
customed  to  place  before  their  houses  during 
the  time  of  a  great  feast  or  potlatch.  The 
idea  of  the  design  is  found  among  the  Indians 


pattern  board  which  has  been  kept  for  genera 
tions  in  the  family.  The  weaver  never  varies 
from  the  design  on  the  pattern  board.  Many  of 
these  pattern  boards  have  been  kept  so  long  that 
their  owners  have  lost  the  significance  of  the 
figures  on  them.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  two  such  students  of  Indian  life  as  Profes 
sor  Swanton  and  Lieutenant  Emmons  obtained 
from  the  Indians  two  different  explanations  for 
the  same  figures.  As,  for  example,  the  figure  on 
one  blanket  was  represented  as  a  whale  killer 
to  one  of  these  men,  while  to  the  other  it  was 
interpreted  as  the  Konakadet.  Another  blanket 
was  interpreted  as  a  whale  diving  to  one  and  to 
the  other  it  was  explained  as  a  wolf  with  young. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


41 


The  Chilkat  blanket  was  used  in  the  ceremonial 
dances  and  at  funerals.  If  it  were  used  in  a 
dance  it  ceased  then  to  be  private  property.  It 
belonged  to  the  clan.  At  funerals  it  was  placed 
over  the  lower  part  of  the  body,  and  in  later 
times  it  was  hung  up  by  the  side  of  the  coffin.  The 
theory  was  that  the  friends  of  the  dead  who  re 
turned  to  take  their  departing  brother  with  them 
were  made  happy  by  seeing  the  bright  colors  of 
the  Chilkat  blanket.  The  blanket  in  this  picture 


represents  a  whale  diving.  The  face  in  the 
center  is  the  body,  and  the  two  eyes  above  are  the 
fins  of  the  whale.  The  two  end  pieces,  when 
brought  together  as  they  would  be  when  worn, 
make  another  whale.  Figure  2  represents  whale 
killers.  Figure  3  is  a  female  bear  with  cubs  or 
a  whale  diving :  The  two  faces  below  are  the 
two  eyes.  The  other  face  is  the  body.  There 
are  many  other  types  of  blankets,  but  these  three 
are  most  often  seen. 


The  Thlinget  Basket 


HE  Indians  in  and  about  Yackatat 
were  the  first  among  the  Thlinget 
Indians  to  practice  the  art  of 
basketry,  and  gradually  from  them 
the  knowledge  of  the  art  passed  to 
the  south. 

The  mythical  origin  of  the  basket  is  that  the 
woman  of  the  clouds  was  married  to  the  sun. 
Her  children  were  of  the  earth,  and  she  was 
wondering  what  to  do  with  them.  One  day  she 
picked  up  some  spruce  roots  and  carelessly  began 
to  weave  them  into  a  basket.  The  sun.  seeing 
this,  enlarged  the  basket  so  that  it  was  large 
enough  to  contain  the  mother  and  all  her  chil 
dren  and  let  them  down  to  earth.  From  this  the 
people  first  learned  the  art  of  basket-making. 

The  material  used  in  the  making  of  baskets 
are  grasses  that  have  long  stems,  and  chiefly 
spruce  roots.  The  grasses  are  picked  in  early 
summer  before  the  stems  have  begun  to  get 
woody,  and  are  bleached  to  a  straw  yellow  by 
immersing  them  in  boiling  water.  They  are 
placed  on  a  tent  cloth  for  drying,  and  so  are  kept 
until  they  are  ready  for  use. 

The  spruce  roots  are  gathered  usually  from 
the  variety  of  spruce  that  has  a  reddish  tinge 
on  the  back.  The  roots,  as  soon  as  gathered 
are  carried  home.  A  small  fire  is  built  and  they 
are  slightly  charred.  They  are  then  soaked  in 
water,  then  drawn  through  a  rough  stick  split 
through  a  greater  part  of  its  length,  just  above  a 
place  where  the  two  prongs  are  tied  together  by 
a  hide.  The  stick  is  held  upright  by  being  placed 
far  enough  in  the  ground  to  hold  it  upright  dur 
ing  the  operation. 

The  barked  roots  are  then  tied  up  into  coils 
and  are  in  a  few  days  ready  for  splitting.  The 
root  is  split  into  three  parts.  The  outer  part  is 
the  very  finest  and  is  used  for  the  ornamental 
work ;  the  middle  part  makes  the  body  of  the 
basket  proper,  and  the  inner  part  is  thrown  away. 


The  principal  colors  are  the  red,  yellow,  green 
ish-blue  and  black.  The  red  is  prepared  by 
soaking  the  bark  of  the  alder  in  some  alkali  sub 
stance;  the  yellow  is  prepared  from  a  lichen  some 
times  known  as  "deer  moss."  It  is  a  moss  that 
hangs  down  in  festoons  from  the  trees  and  fur 
nishes  food  for  the  deer  in  winter  when  the  snow 
is  deep  and  the  deer  can  go  around  on  the  crust. 
The  black  is  produced  from  the  black  mud  around 
sulphur  springs,  boiled  with  hemlock  bark.  The 
greenish-blue  is  prepared  by  making  an  alkaline 
solution  of  copper  ore. 

There  are  six  characteristic  kinds  of  weaves. 
The  first  is  the  Wush-took-ar-kee  (close  to 
gether)  weave.  This  is  the  most  common  kind 
and  is  seen  in  nearly  all  kinds  of  baskets.  It 
reminds  one  a  little  of  the  surface  of  a  rope. 

The  second  weave  is  called  the  Khark-ghee-sut. 
This  weave  is  very  much  like  the  first,  only  that 
between  each  strand  there  is  a  single  braid  that 
goes  in  and  out  around  the  basket.  This  is  a 
later  weave  and  makes  the  cheaper  basket.  It  is 
a  compromise  between  the  better  baskets  of  the 
north  and  the  plain  cedar  work  of  the  south. 

The  third  weave  is  very  much  like  the  first, 
except  that  two  woof  threads  are  twined  about  a 
pair  of  warp  splints.  This  makes  a  rough  or 
uneven  surface  like  the  skin  of  a  frog. 

The  fourth  weave  is  called  the  "eye  hole" 
weave.  In  the  weave,  the  warp  splints  are  drawn 
aside  at  a  fixed  angle.  The  even  numbers  bend 
in  one  direction  and  the  odd  numbers  in  the  op 
posite  direction,  and  then  when  the  warp  splints 
cross  they  are  bound  together  by  the  woof. 

The  fifth  weave;  is  used  in  baskets  designed  for 
heavier  work.  It  consists  of  three  woof  elements, 
one  of  which  makes  a  part  of  a  turn  over  the 
other  two.  They  enclose  two  warp  splints  on  the 
outside  and  one  on  the  inside.  This  is  called  the 
twisted  or  Uh-tahk-ka  weave. 

The    sixth    weave    is   a   variation   of   the    first 


42 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


where  each  alternate  woof  strand  is  for  orna 
mental  purposes,  of  a  different  color.  This  is 
called  the  strawberry  weave. 

The  ornamental  work  on  baskets  does  not  make 
a  part  of  the  basket  proper.  It  is  more  like 
embroidery. 

Lieutenant  Emmons  enumerates  twenty-three 
different  types.  There  is  the  basket  with  han 
dles,  designed  for  berry  baskets:  one  designed 
for  packing  on  the  back ;  a  large  basket  to  re 
ceive  berries  from  the  berry  pickers :  one  de 
signed  for  a  water  bucket:  one  as  a  children's 
eating  dish  ;  one  used  as  a  cooking  basket,  which 
is  called  a  half  basket  and  has  flaring  sides. 


ing.  There  is  a  double  basket,  the  "Yun-nah-kar- 
ra-ku."  One  of  these  baskets  fits  closely  over 
the  other.  It  was  used  for  carrying  birds'  down 
and  charms.  There  is  a  smaller  type  used  for 
carrying  shot. 

The  preceding  gives  a  few  of  the  principal 
types  of  baskets.  There  remains  simply  to  give 
some  explanation  of  the  decorative  designs  on 
them.  To  do  this,  we  will  use  the  accompanying 
illustration,  naming  the  different  designs  on  the 
baskets. 

Basket  marked  "A" — The  middle  row  is  called 
the  "Tying  Pattern."  This  is  made  up  of  tiny 
rectangles  placed  in  enchalon  with  the  long  way 


I'ermission    of  J.    E.    Worden. 

.Also  there  is  a  small  one.  usually  well  ornament 
ed,  used  for  drinking  salt  water.  Four  swallows 
were  taken  out  of  it,  very  early  in  the  morning 
before  the  raven  called,  for  four  successive  days. 
This  was  to  insure  good  luck  in  hunting.  There 
is  the  spoon  bag  with  open  work,  used  as  a  wall 
pocket,  and  the  strainer,  a  basket  with  open  work, 
and  also  a  basket  which  was  shaped  like  a  basin 
and  was  the  Indians'  work-basket.  There  is  a 
covered  basket  that  has  pebbles  in  its  cover. 
This  is  called  the  tu-dar-huck  (noise  inside 
basket).  There  is  one  that  is  urn-shaped  and 
reminds  one  of  a  Chinese  preserve  jar.  The 
Indians  may  have  gotten  hold  of  one  of  these 
preserve  jars  in  the  early  days  of  Russian  trad- 


running  around  the  basket  to  represent  a  string 
wound  around  it. 

Basket  marked  "B" — The  Sha-mans  hat  pattern. 
This  is  suggested  by  the  profile  of  the  mountain 
as  it  descends  in  benches  from  the  top  down  to 
the  water. 

Basket  marked  "C" — The  upper  and  lower 
circle  has  the  cross  pattern,  a  pattern  commonly 
used  since  the  coming  of  Christianity.  The  mid 
dle  row  is  one  of  the  butterfly  patterns.  This 
represents  the  halting,  uncertain  character  of  the 
butterfly's  flight. 

Basket  marked  "D"  is  covered  with  the  tatoo 
pattern. 

Basket  marked  "E"  has  for  its  upper  and  lower 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


43 


circles  the  butterfly  pattern,  and  for  its  middle 
the  waves  of  the  sea. 

Basket  "L"  has  nearly  the  same  as  "C." 

Baskets  "F"  have  the  rainbow  markings. 

Basket  "M"  has  the  sea  wave  pattern.  It  repre 
sents  an  object  rising  and  falling  in  the  waves. 
This  is  a  very  old  design,  dating  back  to  a  time 
before  the  Thlingets  came  to  Alaska.  Basket 
"O"  has  the  same  motif. 

Basket  "N"  has  another  of  the  tattoo  patterns 
for  its  middle  row. 

Basket  "H"  has  for  its  middle  row  the  wood 
worm  pattern.  The  upper  and  lower  rows  are 
according  to  the  cross  pattern. 

Basket  "I"  has  for  upper  and  lower  rows  the 
blanket  border  pattern.  This  pattern  was  cop 
ied  from  the  borders  of  the  old  Hudson  Bay 
blankets.  The  middle  row  is  the  fireweed  motif. 
The  fireweed  is  the  most  common  plant  growing 
along  the  coast.  It  represents  the  parallel 
lanceolate  leaves  of  the  plants. 

Basket  "K"  is  the  blanket  border  pattern  with 
tattoo  markings  at  the  top  and  bottom. 

Basket  "O"  has  the  sea  wave  pattern. 

Basket  "P"  has  for  the  top  and  bottom  the  head 
of  salmon  berry  pattern. 

Basket  "R"  is  all  ornamented  with  tattoo  work. 


Basket  "S"  is  ornamented  with  butterfly  pat 
tern. 

Basket  "T"  has  markings  that  have  no  spe 
cial  significance. 

Basket  "U"  is  ornamented  with  the  salmon 
berry  figure. 

Basket  "V"  has  the  cross  and  the  woodworm 
pattern. 

Basket  "W"  has  for  its  decorations  at  the  top 
and  bottom  the  tattoo.  Next  to  these  is  the 
blanket  border  decorations,  and  the  middle  row 
represents  the  lanceolate  leaves  of  the  fireweed. 

Basket  "X"  at  the  top  and  bottom  has  the  bear 
tracks,  and  the  middle  is  the  cross  pattern. 

Baskets  "Z,"  "2"  and  "3"  have  at  the  top  the 
head  of  the  salmon  berry  pattern. 

Basket  "4"  has  at  the  top  the  jaw  of  the  whale 
killer  pattern. 

Wall-pocket  basket  "6"  has  for  its  middle  row 
the  arrow-head  pattern. 

There  are  perhaps  a  dozen  other  patterns  not 
shown  here,  but  these  comprise  about  all  the 
principal  decorations  found  on  baskets.  The 
only  other  one  that  is  of  very  much  importance 
is  the  flying  geese  pattern.  This  is  very  much 
like  the  salmon  berry  pattern,  excepting  that  there 
are  t\vo  lines  meeting  each  other  at  an  angle. 


44 


TOTEM  LORE  (.)/•'  THli  ALASKA  L\DIA\S 


Ruins  of  Old  Indian  House  at  Wrangell 


HE  first  step  in  building  an  old 
Indian  house  is  shown  by  the  tim 
bers  in  the  illustration.  After  this. 
two  stockades  about  seven  feet  high 
were  placed  about  eight  feet  at  the 


right  and  left  of  the  two  logs.  Then  the  roof 
ran  from  the  top  of  the  stockades  up  across  the 
two  main  cross-legs  to  make  the  ridge  of  the 
house. 


RUINS  OF  AN   OLD  INDIAN   HOUSE,   WITH   WRANGELL   IN   THE   BACKGROUND 


The  Story  of  the  Kluc-nu-hu-di 


HIS  begins  with  the  story  of  a 
spoiled  boy.  He  was  hungry  and 
)ecause  of  that  he  went  to  his 
mother  and  asked  her  for  food. 
She  gave  him  a  piece  of  dried  sal 
mon  and  he  whiningly  because  the  salmon  had  a 
mouldy  edge  threw  it  into  a  garbage  heap  and 
went  out  again  to  play  with  the  boys. 

He  shot  with  his  how  and  arrow  and  killed 
a  sea  gull.  He  waded  out  after  it;  and  suddenly 
disappeared. 

The  people  supposed  that  he  was  drowned. 
They  searched  for  the  body  and  could  not  find 
it,  and  gave  him  up  as  lost. 

He  had  been  pulled  into  the  water ;  but  in 
stead  of  drowning  he  found  himself  walking  in 
a  strange  country.  He  came  to  a  village,  where 
the  chief's  house  was.  He  became  very  hungry 
and  asked  for  food,  but  they  gave  him  none. 


He  saw  what  lie  thought  was  fish  eggs,  and 
stooped  down  and  picked  some  up  as  if  lie 
would  eat. 

At  that,  all  the  people  began  to  make  fun  of 
him.  and  they  cried  "Sec  him  eat  the  garbage 
of  our  people." 

The  boy  was  still  more  worried  and  declared 
be  would  not  eat.  The  chief  ordered  that  he  be 
taken  to  a  brook  where  a  stork  was  feeding,  and 
that  he  be  made  to  hug  the  stork  and  hear  the 
stork  sing  and  that  would  put  him  in  good  humor. 
There  were  two  storks  there  and  they  put  him  in 
good  humor ;  and,  when  he  was  taken  back  to  the 
village,  the  chief  gave  him  food. 

The  chief  then  explained  why  he  had  been 
drawn  away  from  home.  He  told  him  how  he 
had  insulted  the  chiefs  son  dried  salmon.  He 
warned  him  to  be  more  careful  in  the  future. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


45 


Finally  the  spring  time  came  and  the  salmon 
started  on  their  march  to  the  land.  First  march 
ed  the  large  king  salmon,,  then  sockege,  then  the 
humpback,  then  the  dog,  and  lastly  of  all  the 
coho  salmon. 

They  came  to  the  creek  where  some  Indians 
were  fishing.  The  boy  was  now  inside  a  coho 
salmon.  An  old  man  shot  a  spear  at  him.  He 
dodged  into  the  salmon's  tail.  The  salmon  was 
pulled  out.  and  taken  to  the  home  of  the  boys 
mother.  She  recognized  in  the  fish  a  necklace 
belonging  to  her  family,  and  she  made  up  her 
mind  that  her  son  was  in  the  fish.  All  the  best 
medicine  men  were  summoned,  but  they  were 
unable  to  help  them. 

At  last,  one  of  no  reputation  was  summoned. 
He  ordered  that  every  one  fast  for  eight  days 
and  at  the  end  of  eight  days  he  danced  around, 
singing  eight  songs  and  this  brought  the  boy  to 
life  again. 


The  boy  became  a  great  man.  There  is  varia 
tion  of  this  story  of  Actatsin  among  the  Indians 
of  the  West  coast  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island. 

In  this,  Actatsin  is  figured  as  a  friend  of  a  very 
lonely  boy.  The  boy  dies,  and  Actatsin  in  great 
grief  follows  to  where  the  body  of  his  friend  is 
exposed  in  a  tree.  He  falls  asleep. 

He  appears  to  awaken,  and  sees  people  carry 
ing  the  body  of  his  friend  off  into  the  sea.  He 
follows,  calling  on  the  name  of  his  friend. 

Suddenly  he  finds  himself  in  a  sea  palace  with 
his  friend  as  king.  He  lives  there  for  a  long 
time  as  a  special  friend  of  his  king.  Finally  the 
time  comes  for  the  salmon  to  return  to  the 
streams.  Actatsin  by  resisting  all  temptation  to 
marry  a  salmon,  returns  by  the  same  road  as 
did  the  first  fish  hero.  The  close  of  the  story  is 
the  same,  except  he  becomes  the  founder  of  the 
Red  Salmon  family  instead  of  the  Coho  Salmon 
family. 


46 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


47 


The  History  of  the  Totem  Pole 

(at  Seattle,  Washington) 


By  WM.  DICKERSON 


The  tradition  goes  that  the  Raven  who  has  al 
ways  been  recognized  by  the  Indians  as  Chief  of 
the  Gods  and  who  was  called  Yalth  (raven 
figure  No.  1),  wanted  to  improve  the  condition  of 
the  earth  but  was  opposed  by  figure  (5)  Nass- 
shig-ee-yalth,  the  King  of  Light,  who  had  con 
trol  of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars.  Yalth  (figure  1 
on  top  of  pole)  had  a  friend  in  (Kithg-cum-yee) 
Frog  figure  No.  3,  who  was  an  enemy  of  the 
King  of  Light,  and  the  Frog  King  Kithg-cum- 
yee,  told  Yalth  that  Nass-shig-ee-ylth  had  a 
daughter  of  whom  he  was  very  fond  and  careful, 
and,  who  being  a  Virgin  was  only  allowed  to 
drink  from  one  spring,  and  who  must  be  always 
in  company  of  her  woman.  So  Yalth  asked  his 
servant  Nuck-shu-yan  (figure  No.  4)  the  Mink 
to  aid  him  to  change  his  form  into  a  spirit;  this 
the  Mink  did  and  then  as  a  spirit  Yalth  took  his 
abode  in  this  sacred  spring.  As  usual  the  daugh 
ter  of  the  King  of  Light  came  and  drank  of  the 
waters  and  became  conceived  of  a  child.  Yalth 
who  was  greatly  welcomed  into  the  home  of 
Nass-shig-ee-yalth,  who  was  now  his  grand 
father.  As  Yalth  grew  to  boyhood  he  always 
bore  in  mind  his  mission  to  improve  the  world 
and  thought  by  making  as  much  disturbance  as 
possible  he  would  be  able  to  accomplish  his  ob 
ject,  therefor  he  played  sick  and  cried  very  much 
and  Nass-shig-ee-yalth  who  was  much  attached 
to  him  gave  him  everything  he  asked  for.  There 
came  a  day  when  (Yalth)  cried  for  Light,  and  he 
would  not  be  pacified  without  it,  so  his  grand 
father  ordered  one  of  his  servants  to  open  a  large 
chest  in  his  house  and  to  take  out  a  small  box 
containing  Light  and  gave  it  to  Yalth  to  play 
with,  which  he  did  by  getting  under  the  hole  in 
the  roof  which  served  as  a  chimney  and  then  he 
opened  and  shot  the  box  first  making  it  Light  and 
dark  until  all  the  light  had  escaped  from  the 
box,  thus  did  Yalth  made  daylight  and  darkness. 

When  Yalth  found  all  the  light  from  the  box 
had  gone  up  into  the  sky  he  began  to  cry  so  much 
he  made  himself  appear  very  ill,  so  Nass-shig- 
ee-yalth  told  his  servant  to  bring  to  him  the  box 
containing  the  stars  as  he  did  not  want  to  see  his 
only  grand  son  die. 

Then  Nass-shig-ee-yalth  gave  the  box  of  stars 
to  Yalth  to  play  with  but  warned  him  not  to 
throw  them  up,  so  Yalth  rolled  the  stars  around 
the  floor  until  he  got  a  chance  to  throw  them 
through  the  hole  in  the  roof,  and  then  when  his 


grandfather  scolded  him  for  letting  the  stars 
out,  Yalth  said  they  had  jumped  out  of  his 
hands.  He  at  once  began  to  cry  again  as  he 
realized  the  stars  would  not  give  light  enough, 
and  planned  to  get  out  the  sun,  which  he  did  the 
next  day  after  much  trouble  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  light  and  stars. 

The  next  night  on  looking  at  the  sky  he  saw 
only  the  stars  and  they  did  not  shed  much  light, 
so  he  began  to  cry  for  the  moon,  the  last  light 
left  in  the  chest  and  after  shedding  many  tears, 
Nass-shig-ee-yalth  gave  him  the  moon,  but  sat 
under  the  smoke  hole  so  it  could  not  get  out  that 
way. 

Yalth  rolled  the  moon  around  the  room  for 
sometime  but  coming  to  the  door  which  he  quick 
ly  opened  he  shoved  the  moon  outside  and  at  once 
changed  himself  back  into  a  Raven,  took  the 
moon  in  his  mouth  and  flew  up  into  the  heavens 
(figure  No.  1),  and  installed  it  as  chief  of  the 
night,  the  stars  as  its  servants.  The  sun  he  made 
chief  of  day. 

After  having  regulated  the  sun,  moon  and  stars, 
he  started  flying  to  distant  lands  where  he  had 
heard  the  people  needed  his  help,  but  after  fly 
ing  many  days,  he  found  himself  over  a  great 
ocean,  very  tired  and  hungry,  looking  for  a  place 
to  land  and  rest,  he  saw  (Yagh-ee),  the  whale 
(figure  No.  6),  who  was  feeding  on  fish  which 
Yalth  could  not  catch ;  but  when  the  whale  raised 
his  head  out  of  the  water  to  take  a  plunge,  Yalth 
slipped  inside,  rested  and  ate  fish  for  three  day 
light  and  three  darkness,  and  his  spirit  willed  it. 
The  whale  carried  him  many  miles  and  on  ar 
riving  at  the  land  he  wished  to  go  threw  him  up* 
on  a  nice  sandy  beach. 

Figure  (7)  shows  Yalth,  chief  of  Gods  after 
being  released  from  the  belly  of  the  whale  land 
ing  on  the  new  world. 

Mr.  Dickerson,  on  account  of  his  intimate 
knowledge  of  Native  Life,  and  also  because  he. is 
better  informed  than  any  other  person  of  the 
habits  and  history  of  the  Tongass  people,  is  bet 
ter  qualified  than  any  one,  to  write  about  the 
Seattle  totem,  because  it  was  from  Old  Port 
Tongass  that  the  pole  was  taken. 

His  raven  story  differs  some  from  that  given 
in  another  part  of  this  book.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  every  different  clan  gives  a  slightly 
different  version. — Editor. 


48 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


Sitka  Totems 


HE  Sitka  totems  are  all  Haida. 
They  have  been  donated  by  different 
Haida  chiefs  to  the  Sitka  museum. 
The  most  famous  of  all  is  the  Mem 
orial  totem.  It  was  donated  by 


Chief  "Sunnv  Heart." 


It  is  surmounted  by  the  "Fog  woman  with 
her  children."  This  is  the  legend  given  in  the 
chapter  on  the  basket.  The  fig  comes  up  from 
the  south  in  the  spring  time  and  the  salmon  and 
all  vegetation  are  among  her  children. 

Below  the  fog  is  the  wolf.     It  is  a  wolf  that 


THE    MEMORIAL    TOTEM 
SITKA 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIAXS 


49 


is  giving  a  feast  and  inviting  Kajuk  Tshalk  the 
eagle  (the  northern)  and  the  bear  to  a  great 
feast.  It  is  a  memorial  of  a  great  potlatch  feast 
when  all  these  families  were  present. 

The  little  totem  to  the  left  is  a  house  totem 
of  the  Beaver  family.  It  one  time  formed  one 
of  the  pillars  of  a  house. 


"D"  has  many  of  the  figures  of  the  Memorial 
totem. 

"E"  is  surmounted  by  the  crow.  Below  is 
the  crane  hero  piercing  a  frog  below  is  the 
raven  leaping  into  the  mouth  of  the  whale.  The 
lowest  of  all  the  thunder  bird. 


The  other  totems  of  Sitka  are  of  far  less  im 
portance  and  just  a  word  in  regard  to  each  must 
suffice. 

"A"  is  surmounted  by  the  figure  of  a  Russian 
priest.  This  commemorates  a  time  when  a  chief 
long  ago  was  baptized  by  a  Russian  priest.  Be 
low  are  the  owl,  mink  and  beaver. 

"B"  is  surmounted  with  the  young  Raven  and 
Creator  as  in  the  Kadashan  pole. 

"C"  has  a  slave  carrying  a  chief's  hat.  Below 
a  wolf  is  married  to  a  member  of  the  red  salmon 
family. 


A  branch  of  the  Kicksetti  people  at  Sitka  have 
a  very  interesting  legend  of  a  Ka-Kach-gook, 
a  chief  with  two  or  three  helpers  being  carried 
far  out  to  sea.  It  tells  how  they  drifted  to  an 
island,  where  they  killed  many  seal,  and  how, 
after  many  months  long  after  they  were  supposed 
to  be  dead,  the  chief  returned,  bringing  wonder 
ful  fur  robes  with  him.  This  legend  has  no  doubt 
a  foundation  in  fact,  and  this  chief  was  no  doubt 
the  first  to  find  Prybiloff  Islands  which  have 
yielded  such  great  fortunes  in  fur. 


50 


TOTEM  LORE  OE  THE  ALASKA  JXDIAXS 


The  Wolf 


were  dead 


HE  Wolf  people  were  the  northern 
ancestors  of  the  Thlinget  people. 
Possibly  they  migrated  from  the  in 
terior  coming  down  the  Taku  River. 
The  legend  tells  about  where  all 

ut  a  mother  and  daughter.     The  fire 


He  ordered  that  men  should  not  eat  these  birds. 
The  illustration  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  Indian 
jurisprudence.  This  totem  is  at  the  foot  of  the 
eagle  totem  at  Wrangell.  The  Eagle  clan  charg 
ed  that  the  Wolf  people  (Kag- wan-tans)  owed 
them  a  debt  and  would  not  pay.  so  the  Eagle 


THE    WOLF 


drill  spirit  caused  a  son  to  be  born  to  the  daugh 
ter.  The  son  was  bathed  in  a  magic  spring  which 
caused  it  to  grow  up  quickly. 

As  a  youth  he  went  out  among  the  wolves  and 
was  recognized  by  them  as  a  brother.  He  was 
friendly  to  the  northern  eagle.  Ka-juk  Tschalk. 


people  carved  a  totem  of  the  wolf  and  placed  it 
down  very  low  because  they  would  not  pay  their 
debts. 

In  the  Thlinget  category  of  crimes  witchcraft 
was  the  worst.  It  was  the  mother  of  all  crime. 
Then  came  stealing  and  then  murder. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


51 


•ii 


Permission    by    Hunt    &   Co. 


52 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


The  Ketchikan  Totems 


HE    Thlinget    Indians    of    Ketchikan 


were  formerly  residents  of  old  Port 
Tongass  which  is  almost  at  the 
southern  end  of  Alaska.  At  Port 
Tongass,  there  are  a  number  of  very 
interesting  totems.  One  has  on  it  a  carved  itn- 
mage  supposed  to  he  that  of  Captain  Cook.  The 
founder  of  this  family  was  the  first  one  to  see 
Captain  Cook.  This  explains,  why  there  is  an 


the  Kit  or  whale  killer,  and  the  two  at  the  ex 
treme  left  are  surmounted  by  the  Raven. 

Prior  to  the  people  living  at  Cot  Island,  part 
appear  to  have  lived  at  Helm  bay  and  part  per 
haps  came  from  Doll  Island. 

The  two  totems  at  Kechikan  that  the  ordinary 
tourist  sees  are  Kyan's  Totem  and  Johnson's 
Totem.  Kyan's  totem  is  surmounted  by  the 
Crane.  Below  is  the  Thunder  Bird  and  the 


Permission    of   Hunt    &    Co. 

TOTEMS  OF  THLINGET  INDIANS  ON  CAT  ISLAND,  S.  E.  ALASKA,  NEAR  KETCIKAN 


Indian  family  that  lias  the  Knglish  name  Cook 
among  its  stock  of  names. 

The  Indians  migrated  to  Port  Tongass  from 
Cot  Island  which  is  not  far  from  the  present 
Ketchikan.  The  central  figure  of  the  accompany 
ing  illustration  is  the  Grizzly  Bear  Totem.  These 
are  very  old  totems  and  therefore  simple.  It  was 
impossible  of  course  to  carve  complicated  totems 
with  only  stone  axes. 

The  totem  to  the  left  is  that  of  the  Raven, 
recognized  by  his  long  curved  bill.  The  curva 
ture  of  the  Raven's  bill,  the  Legend  says  was  pro 
duced  at  the  time  he  carried  his  mother  up  to 
the  sky,  and  held  himself  up  by  sticking  his  bill 
in  until  the  great  sea  gull  told  him  the  flood 
had  subsided. 

The   totem   still   to   the   left   is   surmounted   bv 


Grizzley  bear.  The  pole  then  reads,  I  belong  to 
the  Crane  branch  of  the  Raven  phratrie  and  am 
married  into  the  Thunder  Bird  branch  of  the 
Bear  phratrie. 

Chief  Johnson  totem  is  surmounted  by  Ka- 
juk,  a  fabled  bird  of  the  mountains.  This  bird 
amuses  himself  by  throwing  rocks  at  ground 
hogs.  Those  who  find  one  of  these  are  sure  to 
become  very  rich. 

Sometimes  this  figure  has  been  called  the 
eagle  but  even  then  it  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  Southern  eagle  which  is  the  totem  of 
an  entirely  different  family.  Ka-juk  is  placed 
high  up  to  show  the  dignity  of  the  family. 

Below  are  the  two  servants  of  the  raven. 
These  are  the  ones  that  obtained  fire  for  mortals. 

The  fire  was  in  the  west.    These  two  servants 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


53 


stuck  their  bills   into  pitch  and   flew  out  to  the       woman  with  her  children  the  salmon, 
fire.  There'  is  one  interesting  totem  in  the  Ketchikan 

On  their  return  the  fire  so  heated  the  bill  that       cemetery.     It  was  carved  by  Wm.  Dickerson,  and 


Permission    of    J.    E.    Worden 

CHIEF   JOHNSON'S    TOTEM 

under  the  weight  of  the  burning  pitch  they  bent,      its  chief  carving  centers   about  the  part  of  the 
and  the  curve  was  produced.  legend    where    he    flies    up    to    heaven    with    his 

Below  is  the  Raven,  and  still  below  is  the  fog      mother  and  others  in  his  arms. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


Kasaan,  a  HaidaTown 


T  about  the  same  time  that  the 
Thlinget  migrations  northward  were 
taking  place,  the  Haida  people  felt 
the  same  impulse.  A  colony  of 
thc'in  from  the  Masset  Indians  on 

Queen  Charlotte's  Islands  settled  near  where  old 

Kasaan  now  is. 
What    prompted    them    was    trouble    at    home. 

First  a  few  set  out  but,  on  account  of  the  rough. 

wide  waters  of  what  we  now  call   "Dixon's   Kn- 

trance,"  were  compelled  to  turn  back.     But  they. 

as  the  old  legend  says,  "found  many  friends  and 

secured  a  big  canoe  and  in  it  they  worked  hard 


becoming,  virtually,  a  part  of  the  Thlinget  people. 
These  emigrants  were  finally  divided  into  two 
families,  the  Kosoquidi  and  Telequidi.  The 
sacred  songs  of  these  two  clans  are  in  the  Haida- 
Kasaan  dialect. 

The  chief  house  of  old  Kasaan  is  Chief  Sko- 
wel's.  It  is  the  one  that  has  two  totem  poles 
just  alike  standing  in  the  accompanying  illus 
tration  on  each  side  of  the  steps  in  front  of  the 
house.  They  are  surmounted  with  the  figures  of 
the  Raven.  These  are  placed  high  up  to  show 
the  great  dignity  of  the  family.  The  carved 
figure  below  is  the  Raven.  He  has  the  moon  in 


Permission  of  Hunt  and  Co.,  and   D  Nichol 

A  PORTION  OF  OLD  KASAAN,  A  DESERTED  HAIDA  VILLAGE  IN  1900 
A— At  top  creator,  below  young  craven  carrying  men  up  to  the  sky  at  the  time  of  the 
flood,  and  the  mother  of  the  young  raven. 

B— A  fabled  bird  of  the  mountains,  mosquito  and  bear. 

C — Carrying  of  the   man   in   whose   memory   the   totem  is  erected,   the   raven   and   the 
strong  rending  the  sea  lions. 

D— See  description  of  old  Kasaan  in  text. 


and  altogether  and  succeeded  in  crossing  the  big 
water  where  they  found  a  good  place  and  had 
peace  many  days." 

This  good  place  was  not  the  present  old 
Kasaan,  but  a  place  not  far  away.  After  some 
years,  for  a  trivial  reason,  they  deserted  their 
first  resting  place  for  the  present  site  of  old 
Kasaan.  They  called  it  "Beautiful  Town."  That 
is  what  the  word  Kasaan  means. 

Of  these  legendary  days  there  is  a  story  of 
a  man  digging  clams  who  was  caught  there  by 
a  large  bivalve  and  held  there  until  he  was 
drowned  by  the  incoming  tide.  This  so  excited 
his  kinsmen  that  the  family  migrated  northward 
to  the  Stikine  River  and  joined  their  fortunes 
with  the  Thlingets.  learning  their  language  and 


his  mouth  to  commemorate  the  time  he  stole  the 
moon  from  the  Creator  to  give  it  unto  men.  Be 
low  is  the  wife  of  the  Raven.  He,  after  he  stole 
the  sun  and  moon,  went  out  to  and  fro  on  the 
earth,  teaching  men  to  obey  certain  customs. 
He  was  a  great  joker,  so  much  so  that  each 
Thlinget  word  that  means  deceit  has  its  root  in 
their  word  for  the  raven.  The  Raven,  like  men 
of  that  character,  was  many  times  married  and 
there  is  a  legend  that  goes  along  with  each  ad 
venture. 

The  lowest  figure  of  all  is  the  whale.  This 
is  the  Raven's  "Jonah"  story.  One  time  the 
Raven  jumped  into  the  mouth  of  the  whale.  He 
there  made  it  so  unpleasant  for  the  whale  that 
the  whale  was  glad  to  go  ashore  and  die.  The 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


55 


Raven,  however,  still  imprisoned  in  the  belly  of 
the  whale,  began  to  sing  and  this  attracted  the 
attention  of  some  Indian  braves  who  were  pass 
ing  by.  Their  curiosity  was  aroused  and  they 
began  to  dig  into  the  sides  of  the  whale.  Out 
stepped  the  Raven,  and  then,  as  a  thank  offering 
for  his  rescue,  he  cut  up  the  whale  and  divided  it 
among  the  people,  thus  making  a  great  feast. 
The  larger  of  these  two  poles  was  erected  in 
1872. 

The  totem  pole  at  the  right  of  the  two  just 
described  is  very  similar  to  the  one  last  men 
tioned  and  was  erected  in  honor  of  Chief 
Skowel's  nephew. 

At  the  extreme  right  of  the  village  is  a  totem 
erected  by  Chief  Skowel  for  his  daughter.  She 
married  a  white  man  and  so  this  pole  is  sur 
mounted  by  the  American  eagle. 

Back  of  and  a  little  to  the  left  of  Chief 
Skowel's  house  is  a  totem  surmounted  by  the 
fog  mother  and  her  two  children,  and  below  is 
her  husband,  the  sun. 

To  the  left  of  Skowel's  house  is  the  house  of 
darkness.  Next  is  Chief  Sunny  Heart's  house. 
It  was  he  who  gave  the  Memorial  totem  to 
Governor  Brady  to  be  placed  in  the  park  at 
Sitka. 

The  totems  at  the  extreme  left  are  grave 
totems.  Those  who  erected  these  totems  were 
usually  first  initiated  into  the  "Dog  Eaters" 
fraternity.  They  first  fasted  four  days.  Then 
they  blackened  their  faces  from  the  mouth  and 
ears  down  and  displaying  the  bones  of  a  dog 
would  go  around  from  house  to  house.  When 
they  entered  a  house  they  would  sit  awhile  and 
then  would  arise  and  go  on  to  the  next,  pre 
serving  perfect  silence  all  the  time.  Those  who 
were  initiated  were  much  respected.  They  had 
a  very  high  social  standing. 

One  of  the  things  that  Chief  Skowel's  house 
was  noted  for  was  a  great  peace  dance.  The 
Haidas  and  the  Tsimpsian  Indians  had  had 
trouble.  The  Kasaan  people  were  anxious  to 
make  peace.  Their  enemies  would  not  listen,  so 
the  Kasaan  people  said  to  their  enemies,  "Come 
in."  Both  sides  were  in  their  canoes.  The 
Kasaan  people  had  secured  two  guns.  The 
Tsimpsians  had  none.  When  they  advanced 
for  the  attack,  the  Kasaan  people  shot  off  their 
guns.  This  frightened  many  of  the  Tsimpsians 
so  much  that  in  jumping  backwards  they  tipped 
over  their  canoes.  This  gave  the  Kasaan  people 
so  great  an  advantage  that  they  rushed  in  with 
their  axes  and  slew  so  many  that  the  waters  were 
red  with  blood.  The  Tsimpsians  surrendered 
and  this  was  followed  by  the  great  peace  dance. 


By    permission    of   J.    E.    Worden 

THE  BEAVER  TOTEM 

Representatives  from  the  opposite  sides  were 
lined  up  opposite  each  other.  Then  certain  ones 
from  each  side  would  advance  to  the  other  side 
and  pick  up  a  chosen  representative  and  carry 
him  bodily  back  to  their  side.  This  one  during 
the  whole  time  the  ceremonies  were  going  on  was 
treated  like  a  prince.  He  was  not  allowed  to 
walk.  He  was  carried  to  symbolize  the  fact  that, 
when  anyone  from  their  former  enemies  might 
come  among  them,  he  would  be  treated  with  the 
utmost  respect.  Then  each  side  would  dance  for 
the  other  to  work  up  a  good  feeling.  Great 
feasts  were  given ;  and  so,  in  like  manner,  one 
ceremony  followed  another  to  show  that  the  old- 
time  feuds  were  forgotten. 

Old  Kasaan  was  deserted  in  the  year  1900  for 


56 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


new  Kasaan,  where  the  natives  have  built  up  a 
modern  and  prosperous  village. 

Old    Kasaan    should    be    made    a    government 


park,  and  every  effort  should  be  put  forth  to  pre 
serve  its  old  totems  and  buildings  as  monuments 
of  a  past  civilization  and  culture. 


The  Beaver  Totem 


HE    totem    is    surmounted    with    the 
beaver.     This    is    the    story    of    the 
beaver   and   the  porcupine   referred 
to  in  the  chapter  on  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  Thlingets. 
Below  is  the  man  who  fought  with   the  devil 
fish.    This   is  a   legend   from  the   west  coast  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  Island.     It  tells  of  a  house 


that  was  pulled  into  the  water  and  how  the 
owners  devoted  themselves  to  death,  jumped  into 
the  mouth  of  the  devil-fish  and  killed  it. 

Below  is  Ductut  rending  the  sea  lions.  The 
lower  figure  represents  Kayak  snaring  a  sea 
monster  with  the  sinew  of  a  bird. 

This  is  a  modern  pole. 


The  Last  of  the  Fire  Builders 


OLILOQUV.  (The  hero  of  this 
soliloquy  is  Tom  Gonanisty.  one  of 
the  old  time  natives  of  Alaska.  He 
was  one  of  those  strong,  faithful 
Christian  Indians  that  won  not  only 
the  respect  but  the  affectionate  regard  of  all  who 
knew  him.  both  White  and  Indian.  Over  half  of 
the  value  of  St.  Philips  Church,  Wrangell, 
Alaska,  was  contributed  by  native  Indians,  and 
our  hero  was  one  who  organized  and  stayed  with 
the  volunteer  work  until  the  end. 

When  our  Alaska  artist,  the  late  Mr.  T.  J. 
Richardson,  saw  him  he  was  so  impressed  with 
his  character,  that  he  was  anxious  to  paint  his 
picture,  and  Mr.  Gonanisty  consented.  It  may 
be  interesting  to  know  that  this  was  the  very 
last  work  that  Mr.  Richardson  did.  Our  hero 
was  accustomed  in  his  later  years  to  put  on  his 
old-time  robes  and  lecture  to  tourists  and  this 
was  the  garb  in  which  he  was  painted.  Mr. 
Richardson  painted  the  picture  specially  as  a 
frontpiece  for  the  third  edition  of  Totem  Lore, 
donating  it  to  the  work. 


The  things  I  wear,  the  things  I  do. 

Are  acted  just  in  play 
To  show  the  people  how  we  lived 

In  times  of  far  away. 

With  bow  and  stick  I  make  the  fire, 

I  sing  the  songs  of  old, 
I  dance  the  dance  of  peace  and  war, 

And  legends  old  are  told. 


Those  ancient  days  were  great  old  days 
When  haughty  chiefs   did   make 

Their  feasts  and  men  were  brave  enough 
To  die  for  honors  sake. 

Their  songs  and  dances  stirred  the  heart, 

They  strove  to  be  correct, 
One  chief  would  greet  another  chief  . 

With  pomp  and  great  respect. 

But  those  old  days  are  parred  away. 
There  came  the  preacher  man. 

The  merchant;  lawyer,  and  the  judge, 
And  the  physician. 

The  lawyer  and  the  judge  did  take 

Away  our  laws  so  old, 
The  trader  brought  his  better  cloths 

And  them  to  us  he  sold. 

The  preacher   man,   God's   man,   "Saplatto" 

Did  open  up  the  word, 
And  show  to  us  a  better  way 

Than   we  before  had  heard. 

Tis  all  so  very  good,  and  still 

Many  have  yet  to  learn, 
The  lessons  of  there  days.     In  them 

The  wildest  feelings  burn. 

And  yet  why  should  I  doubt,  why  fear? 

For  time  with  God's  free  gift 
Will  teach  and  strengthen  wably  wills, 

And  lives  to  heaven  lift. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


57 


The  Indian  Potlach  Dance 


HE  feast  time  for  the  Thlinget 
Alaska  Indian  was  the  same  as 
our  Xmas  and  New  Years. 

It  was  then  that  all  the  members 
of  the  different  families  gathered  in 
their  respective  communal  houses  for  their  win 
ter  resting  time. 

When  a  feast  was  in  preparation  a  runner  was 
sent  out  notifying  the  prospective  guests,  who 
were  always  those  of  the  opposite  phratrie  that 
a  feast  was  in  preparation,  and  then  when  the 
feast  was  prepared,  the  runner  went  out  and  an 
nounced  that  all  things  were  ready. 

Where  the  guests  coming  from  distant  villages, 
they  were  met  on  the  beach  with  dancing  and 
singing. 

The  great  drum,  which  was  nothing  but  a  broad 
thin  hewn  cedar  board,  steamed  so  that  it  could 
be  bent  into  the  form  of  a  box,  with  the  seams 
sewed  together  with  sinew,  was  beaten  to  send 
forth  its  sound  of  welcome. 

A  great  door  was  erected  in  front  of  the 
house  decorated  with  the  coat  of  arms  of  the 
owner  of  the  house.  The  guests  entered  through 
this  door  which  was  a  special  mark  of  honor. 

Then  came  the  feast  and  afterwards  the  dis 
tribution  of  gifts.  These  gifts  however  were  not 
really  gifts.  The  giver  of  the  feast  took  this 
opportunity  to  pay  his  debts.  The  carpenter's 
bill  for  work  were  there  settled.  Funeral  ex 
penses  of  departed  friends  were  settled,  and  all 
other  bills  were  paid. 

If  the  debts  were  satisfactorily  settled,  then  it 
was  the  guests  turn  to  do  their  part  and  their  part 
was  to  conduct  the  dance.  The  chief  with  all  his 
fellows  put  on  his  potlach  garments.  He  with 
his  immediate  retainers  usually  wore  Chil-kat 
blankets.  Each  dancer  entered  with  his  back  to 
the  audience  dancing  as  he  backed  in.  The  ob 
ject  of  this  was  to  display  the  decorations  on 
the  back  of  the  dancing  robe. 

One  after  another  entered,  and  took  his  place  in 
a  semi-circle  about  as  minstrels  would  stand. 

Then  the  chief  led  out  with  his  dance.  The 
accompanying  music  is  the  chief's  dance  song 
music  and  is  given  as  an  illustration  of  hun 
dreds  of  other  songs  used  by  different  tribes. 

While  they  sang  and  danced  some  usually 
kept  time  by  beating  the  floor  with  their  long 
dancing  sticks. 

The  following  is  the  chief's  song  of  the  To- 
quedi  or  Grizzley  bear  tribe  of  the  Tongas 
people. 


In  the  words  given,  no  effort  has  been  made  to 
give  a  literal  translation  of  their  song.  An  at 
tempt  is  made  to  preserve  the  spirit  in  which 
the  song  was  sung. 

The  chief  steps  out  of  the  ranks  with  usually 
one  of  his  chief  retains  and  begins  to  sing : 

Oh,  come  and  see, 
Who  e're  ye  be ; 
Ye  men  so  true 
What  I  here  do. 

I'll  dance  and  sing 
And  gladness  bring. 
And  get  a  name 
Of  highest  fame. 

The   spirits   all. 
On  them  we'll  call. 
They  will  appear, 
They'll   help  as  here. 

Then  came  the  putting  on  of  the  special  danc 
ing  robes.  The  chief  then  continued  (only  a 
chief,  or  some  one  who  received  permission  from 
the  chief,  was  allowed  to  sing  this  song:) 

The  things,   I   wear 
With  utmost  care 
Are  robes  of  state. 
So  think   me  great. 

I  follow  ways 
Of  ancient  days. 
So  up  I  go, 
I  look  below. 

And  see  you  there 
The  things  I  wear. 
Are  colored  bright : 
To  give  delight. 

Thus    up    I    go, 
I    look    below. 
Down  ev'ry  where, 
I  see  you  there. 

After  this  song,  begins  the  chief's  dance,  and 
as  he  dances,  he  sings  the  fourth  song : 

My  hat  is  filled  with  feathers  rare, 

He-he,  yo-ho,  he-he,  yo-ho. 
And  they  are  scattered  ev'ry  where, 

He-he,  yo-ho,  he-he,  yo-ho. 


58 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


As  gently  as  my  feathers  fall. 

He-he,  yo-ho,  he-he,  yo-ho. 
May  pleasant  peace  upon  the  call. 

He-he,  yo-ho,  he-he,  yo-ho. 

As  feathers  scattered  far  and   wide 

He-he,  yo-ho,  he-he,  yo-ho. 
May   handsome   friends   with   thcc   abide 

He-he,  yo-ho,  he-he,  yo-ho. 

It  was  therefore  considered  good  luck  when 
feathers  fell  in  on  a  man. 

After  the  dancing,  the  dancers  would  leave  as 
they  entered. 

The  third  song  was  the  bear  tribe's  love  song. 
It  is  addressed  to  Miss  Raven  because  a  member 
of  this  clan  must  marry  into  the  Raven  phratrie. 

The  song  was  about  as  follows  : 

Miss   Raven,  please  make  love  to   me, 
I'm  sad  and  lonely  you  must  see. 

Take  me.  don't  let  me  pass  by  you; 
To  you  I'll  be,  both  good  and  true. 


The  sun  for  me  does  disappear, 
When  you  Miss  Raven  are  not  near. 

The  music  on  the  following  pages  was  sung 
by  "Dick"  Williams,  an  aged  singer  and  orator 
among  the  Tongas  people.  The  words  were  in 
terpreted  and  the  meaning  of  the  customs  ex 
plained  by  Mr.  Wm.  Dickerson  who  is  now  a 
volunteer  interpreter  in  St.  John's  Church,  Ketch- 
ikan.  Mr.  Dickinson  designed  and  carved  chief 
Johnson's  pole  at  Ketchikan,  and  also  a  number 
of  other  poles.  He  is  therefore  a  competent 
authority  on  Indian  lore.  The  music  was  taken 
down  and  the  harmonies  were  supplied  by  Mr.  T. 
J.  Fennel  who  was  some  time  director  of  the 
choir  of  all  Saints  Church,  Omaha,  Nebraska  and 
is  now  directing  the  choir  in  St.  John's  Church, 
Kechikan. 

Mr.  Fennel  is  considering  the  publishing  of 
instrumental  pieces  of  sheet  music  founded  on 
these  Indian  melodies.  It  is  certainly  hoped  he 
will  succeed  in  doing  so. — Editor. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


59 


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TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  IXDIAXS 


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TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


61 


WRANGELL  DRUG  CO. 


DEALERS    IN 


Fancy  and  Staple  Goods,  Stationery,  Notions, 
Toilet  Articles,  Magazines  and  Periodicals 

Fresh  Candies — Lowney's  |       Cigars — All  of  the  Best 
and  Society  Chocolates.  Brands. 


INTERIOR  VIEW   OF  STORE 


WRANGELL.   ALASKA 


ALASKA  VIEWS,  POST  CARDS  &  FOLDERS 
"TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS- 


NOTICE 

We  have  some  choice  Curios:  Indian  Moccasins,  Blankets, 

Totems,  Specialty  of  Souvenir  Spoons,  Nugget  Jewelry 

and  the  Finest  Carved  Ivory  in  Alaska 

THANK  YOU  CALL  AGAIN 


62 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


**t  ****** ******&&&&*t^f^&e-t&r&fr  444444 444 444449 444  »? 4444*94944^ 

F.  MATHESON    f 

DEPARTMENT  STORE  I 


<*  Tourists  will  do  well  to  defer  their  purchases  till  they  reach  this  store.     Curios,  being  \ii 

^  a  side  line  with  us,  we  do  not  depend  on  them,  and  are  therefore  able  to  sell  at  the  very  ^ 

JJJ  lowest  prices:     Gold   Nugget  and  Torsil  Ivory  Jewelry,  Bracelets,  Spoons,  Pennants,  Cedar  £ 

*  Mats.,  Baskets;  Chilkat  Blankets,  $35  to  $100;  Seal    Skin    Slippers,    fine    finish,    $1.25;    Seal  * 

vi,  Skin  Fur  lined,  sewed  with  sinew,  Moccasins,  $3  to  $3.50.  4, 

-**  944 444  444 444  444  444  444  444  3  444***  **&  ***  ***  ~~~  ***  *** ***  ***  &  E-** **&  & 


************ ******************£  344  4444  444 444444 444 444444444 444*4 


Special  line  of  St.  John's  Mission  School  Baskets.  These  baskets  are  made 
from  cedar  bark,  and  sell  from  1-5  to  2-3  of  the  corresponding  cedar  bark 
baskets. 

They  are  suitable  for  ladies  market  baskets,  jardinieres,  scrap  baskets,  work  baskets, 
card  receivers,  etc.  Any  one  making  a  collection  should  have  at  least  one  of  the  straight 
weave  and  one  of  the  twisted  weave  baskets. 

KODAK  FILMS  AND  SUPPLIES  AT   EASTMAN  LIST  PRICES 

Gasoline  launches,  guides  and  camping  outfits  for  side  trips  up  the  Stickine  river, 
or  to  the  various  glaciers  and  fishing  streams  in  this  interesting  neighborhood.  Finest  big 
game  country  on  the  continent,  at  head  waters  of  the  Stickine  river.  Information  personal 
ly  or  by  letter  based  on  many  years  experience.  Raw  furs  bought  and  sold:  Sables,  Mink, 
Otter  and  Bear.  Buy  here  and  save  middle  men's  profits. 

1 999  999  999  999  999  999  999  999  999  999  9  ******  ft**  *  ***  ft**  ft**  ftft*  ft**  ft*:*  ft**  I 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


63 


3fr-*eSiHlHIHIHie-3IHIRK %^K-;fr-a^fr-%  X  X  X  -K-SK- 


BERTHELSEN  &  PRUEL,  PROPRIETORS 

KETCHIKAN,  ALASKA 
To  the  Tourist,  whether  you  wish  to  buy  or  not : 

Come  and  see  the  largest  and  best  collection  of  Alaska  Curios:  Otter  Baskets,  made  from  grasses;  Spruce 
Root  Baskets,  made  from  split  spruce  roots;  Cedar  Bark  Baskets,  both  of  the  straight  and  twisted  weave; 
Birch  Bark  Baskets;  Moccasins  at  usual  prices;  Ivory  Carved  Totems,  copied  after  well  known  histori 
cal  totems;  Slate  Totems;  Nugget  Jewelry  of  great  variety;  Carved  Ivory  Napkin  Rings;  Carved 
Turks  for  cribbage  boards;  small  Wood  Totems  in  great  variety;  Souvenir  Spoons  with  totemistic  de 
signs;  Indian  Carved  Bracelets;  Ancient  Pots  and  Kettles;  Rattles  in  Copper,  such  as  Indian  doctors 
used. 


-- 


A    model   of   an   old   time   Indian   house   with   totem  in  front  and  totems  as  corner  posts. 

Four  very  old  Indian  war  knives,  belonging  at  one  time  to  old  chief  Kasco.  The  blades  are  of 
native  copper,  and  the  handles  are  ornamental  with  totemistic  markings.  There  are  only  three  or  four 
more  of  these  in  Alska. 

Tanned  bear  rugs. 

We  are  also  agents  for  St.  John's  Mission  School  Baskets.  These  baskets  are  sold  for  the  benefit 
of  St.  John's  School.  They  are  all  of  the  cedar  bark,  both  straight  and  twisted  weave.  They  are  suit 
able  for  scrap  baskets,  work  baskets,  Jardinieres,  card  receivers,  etc. 

We  have  only  given  a  partial  catalogue  of  what  you  can  see  in  our  store.  Make  our  store  your 
headquarters  while  in  Ketchikan.  We  will  be  glad  to  correspond  with  any,  desiring  information  about 
Alaska  curios.  The  prices  at  which  we  sell  our  baskets  is  the  same  that  Indians  charge.  We  make  our 
profit  by  buying  from  them  in  trade. 

BERTHELSEN     &     PRUEL. 

-*   X   )1(   X   X   X   X   X   )i^*r^r^f-a^^-^^-^   X   X   X   *-*-*-*-*   X   X   X   X 


64 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


SEE  ALASKA  PROPERLY 

STOP  ENROUTE  AT  WRANGELL 

WRANGELL  OFFERS 

Tour  Glaciers  within  reach  by  gas  boat. 

A  Sail  up  the  Stickine  River.     This  is  better  than  seeing  the  Alphs. 
Fifteen  Totem  Poles  for  those  interested  in  Indian  Lore. 

Deer  on  the  Islands  and  Big  game,  Moose,   Carilntt,   Black   Bear  and   Grizzley  on  the 
mainland. 


Stickine  River  Flats  where  the  finest  of  wild  foul,  ducks,  geese,   etc.,  are  obtained  in 
larger  quantities. 

Halibut  and  Varieties  uf  Cod  are  in  the  bay. 
Fine  Trout  Streams  art.-  near  at  hand. 

Splendid  opportunities  for  the  Artist,  Geologist,  Botanist  and  Zoologist  to  do  original 
work. 


WRANGELL  HOTEL 


J.   C.   GRANT,  PROP. 
Is  First  Class  in  Every  Respect 

ITS  RATES  ARE  $2.50  PER  DAY  AND  UP.     SPECIAL  RATES  BY  THE  MONTH  OR 

FOR  THE  SEASON 

Mr.  Grant  will  be  glad  to  correspond  wiith  interesting  parties  and  will  assist  charter 
ing  suitable  gas  boats  and  procuring  suitable  guides. 


TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


65 


THE  SIGN  OF  THE  TOTEM 


L.     D.     KUBLEY.    PROPRIETOR 


We  carry  the  most  complete  assortment  of  Post  Cards,  both  printed 
and  photographic  in  Alaska. 


COPIES   OF   WELL   KNOWN   TOTEM   POLES   IN   IVORY. 

GENUINELY   INDIAN   SLATE    CARVED  TOTEM   POLES. 

A  LARGE  AND  VARIED  ASSORTMENT  OF  MOCCASINS. 

A  VARIETY  OF  WOOD  CARVED  MINIATURE  TOTEM  POLES. 

CHOICE  SPRUCE  ROOT  INDIAN  BASKETS. 

SOUVENIR  SPOONS. 

MAIL  ORDERS  SOLICITED. 


The  totem  in  the  cut  represents  Ductut,  the  Thlinget  Strong  Man,  rending  the  sea 
lions.  The  lower  figure  is  that  of  the  woman  who  took  pity  on  him  and  gave  him  food 
when  he  was  hungry,  whom  he  afterwards  married. — Editor. 


66  TOTEM  LORE  OF  THE  ALASKA  INDIANS 


E.  VALENTINE 


JUNEAN,  ALASKA 


OPTICAL  GOODS  SOUVENIR  SPOONS 

RYUS  DRUG  &  JEWELRY  Co. 

Drugs,  Jewelry 
Stationery 

PHOTO  GOODS  ALASKA  BOOKS 

CANDIES 

WHY  NOT  HAVE  AN  ALASKA  BOOTH 

AT  YOUR  CHURCH  FAIR? 

We  supply  you  with  Baskets,  Moccasins,  Wall  Pockets,  and  Totem 

Poles,  to  be  sold  on  commission. 
You  take  no  risk.     We  allow  liberal  commissions. 

•V        ^* 

-  •  X 

Address, 

ST.  JOHN'S  MISSION  SCHOOL 


The  Evans  Printing  Co.,  Scranton,  Penna.,  U.  S.  A. 


A     000  633  460 


v    o 


$   CAL/Av 
O        A 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


SEP  3  0  1994 


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